'Beckoning cats' selling like hot cakes as general election nears

OWARIASAHI, Japan - An employee at ceramic ware maker Tamazen in the city of Owariasahi in Aichi smiles alongside some of the company's hot-selling ''maneki neko'' -- decorative figures of beckoning cats believed to invite good fortune -- ahead of voting day in the Aug. 30 House of representatives election. The company is getting a rush of orders from election workers for the figures, decorated with leopard-skin marks, to attract votes, called ''hyo'' in Japanese, the same pronunciation as another Japanese word meaning leopard. (Kyodo)

• Product Code
• ILEA000676611

• Registered date
• 2009/8/28 00:00:00

• Credit
• Kyodo / Kyodo News Images

• Media source

• Media size
• 2275 × 1889 pixel

• Resolution
• 240 dpi

• Deployment size
• 1.33(MB)*

• Special instruction

*File size when opened in Photoshop, etc.