Colour tattoo of a beckoning maneki-neko cat with a red collar and bell, decorated with a red fish and small flowers, in a Japanese-inspired style on the upper arm.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Maneki-neko beckoning cat on upper arm

Japanese · Upper arm · Colour · Photo

The tattoo shows a tabby maneki-neko, the beckoning cat, with one raised paw, a red collar with a gold bell, and a red fish and small red flowers across its pink-and-white body. The linework is clean and fine, with soft shading that gives the orange and white fur some depth. The design is centred on a plain skin background with a grey fabric edge at the right of the frame.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Ruth,

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The cat came back to me on Tuesday, wrapped in the same blue carrier bag it was left in, which is how I knew it was the one. Mr Okonedo's shop on Bold Street has been shut since the spring, and the landlord had the windows boarded before anyone thought to empty the back room. I was the only one who went in with a torch. Under a tea chest I found the beckoning cat, its raised paw chipped at the tip, its gold bell still tied to the red collar with a bit of cotton that had gone grey.

I walked it home through the wet streets after the last bus, past the shuttered chippy and the lit window of the night bakery, and I kept stopping to look at it under the lamps. The fish painted on its chest has faded now, and the little red flowers on its belly have lost half their petals, but someone took real care over the brushwork. You could see that even in the dark.

I set it on the windowsill facing the street, paw up, the way Mr Okonedo always had it. Last night a lad from the flats opposite stood below and waved back at it, thinking it was waving at him. Maybe it was. I told myself I would post it to you in the morning, but I have decided to keep it, at least until you come up at Christmas and tell me I am being daft.

Love, Tom

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