Tucked away in an arts incubator in Cinncinnati is a wonderful little shrine to the Maneki-neko.

In case you don’t know, that’s the Lucky Cat, the cute little waving kitties you see in Asian restaurants and markets. When we were in Cinncinnati a few weeks ago, we stopped into a place Mel has wanted to visit for years…The Lucky Cat Museum.

The Lucky Cat Museum is a small, appointment-only collection of thousands of Lucky Cats. It’s an absolute treat for fans of Japanese art and culture, Asian mythology and kitty cats in general. They even had some Kaiju Kitties to entertain yours truly.

Let me quote from their website:

The Lucky Cat Museum is the passion project of Micha Robertson and her husband Jaime. They moved to Cincinnati, Ohio from Oklahoma in 2001. Micha had always collected cat ephemera and Japanese and Asian art, but hadn’t been able to find any Lucky Cats in Oklahoma. She received her first Neko from her sister, Brenna (purchased from Tokyo Foods) and the second from the Cheviot Goodwill. Coincidentally, she and Brenna went to an anime/manga convention in California in late 2001, where she became a beta tester for Rinkya, one of the very first US companies to offer bidding services on Yahoo Japan Auctions. This opened the fortune feline floodgates, as it were, and the collection continues to grow.

In 2012, Micha’s friend Eva Clarke asked if she would be interested in sharing a space with her and Jenn Sczur at the Essex Art Studios. At the same time, the room at home that hadn’t quite become totally overwhelmed with the collection needed to be emptied for a family member. Eva and Jenn were cool with the idea of moving the collection into Micha’s third of the space. Cappel’s, her employer, provided many glass and acrylic display cases to get things organized.

In 2016, a space on the first floor of the Essex became available. It featured carpet, air-conditioning and complete walls (all things absent from the first space). The Museum moved downstairs and reopened with regular hours.

Micha’s collection is stunning in size and scope. As a fellow collector of cool stuff, I could only nod and smile with familiarity as she described how she’s pursued her obsession.

The Essex Art Studios is brimming with artists and is cool enough to merit a return visit the next time we go to Cinncinnati, but the Lucky Cat Museum is just a gem of pure happiness, nestled among the Walnut Hills neighborhood.

We’re just going to bring you a few photos. If you want to see the whole collection, you’ll just have to visit there yourself.   Contact them through the website ahead of time. The museum is open by appointment only, and admission is limited to six people at a time.  It’s a cozy space.

The variety of Maneki Neko is mind-blowing

Even the many minor differences between the traditional lucky cats is a revelation.

Of course, with some styles there’s strength in numbers.

The museum has a lot packed into a small space.

I told you there’d be Kaiju Kitties. Even Godzilly approves.

In case you want to try your luck…

A Labubu Cat.

I think these were the Lucky Cats on drugs.

“I’ll see your Maneki Godzilla and raise you two Maneki Hedorahs!”

And we leave you with my lucky cat, Mel, next to the biggest Cat in the collection (and Squidward).