The Kuru-Fuku Maneki-Neko (beckoning cat) Festival returns to Okage Yokocho, the historical town at the gates of Ise Jingu's Inner Shrine. The 32nd festival runs from Saturday, September 19 to Tuesday, September 29 — with playful opening hours of 9:29 a.m. to 5:29 p.m., a nod to the cats (announced on the official site on August 16).

This year's theme: "Inviting Fortune in Ise, Home of the Okihiki"

2026 is the year the first Okihiki timber-hauling rites toward the 63rd Shikinen Sengu were held. The festival's theme this year, "Inviting Fortune in Ise, Home of the Okihiki," echoes it, and a commemorative chopstick-making workshop joins the lineup.

Beckoning cats from all over Japan

Throughout the festival, works by maneki-neko artists from across the country are exhibited and sold, with live demonstrations and a painting workshop where you color a plain papier-mache cat into your own one-of-a-kind charm. There is also a festival-limited lottery with beckoning cats as prizes.

September 29 is "Kuru-Fuku Day"

The festival closes on September 29 — read in Japanese wordplay as kuru (9) fuku (29), "fortune arrives." Okage Yokocho established the date as a beckoning-cat anniversary in 1995. The day features a maneki-neko procession (in past years paraded by children) and the presentation of good-luck bells.

Tokiwakai is a community based in Ise, dedicated to passing on Japanese traditional culture and nurturing the younger generation. If you visit Ise this autumn, stop by Okage Yokocho and meet the beckoning cats.