招き猫

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 招き猫 is a noun read まねきねこ, referring to a lucky-cat ornament depicted with one front paw raised.
• Basic usage: It can describe the pose of a decoration at a shop entrance or a small cat figurine made in pottery class.
  • 店の入口に右手を上げた招き猫が飾られている。 describes a lucky cat raising its right paw at the store entrance; 陶芸教室で小さな招き猫を作った。 describes making a small lucky-cat figurine in pottery class.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 右手を上げた
  • The past form modifies the following noun and identifies the ornament by its raised-right-paw pose.
• 陶芸教室で
  • で marks the pottery class as the setting where the figurine was made.
• 招き猫 and 猫
  • 猫 broadly denotes a cat, while 招き猫 specifically denotes the lucky-cat ornament.