For May half and half.
This small carving is one of the most famous at Nikko Toshogu. The cat protects the entrance gate to the grave of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu. This
gate was only officially opened when the Shogun came to worship here. On the reverse of the carving are two sparrows happily flying around The combination of the cat and the sparrows represents the co-existence of the strong and the weak, and the era of peace that Lord Tokugawa leyasu sought to create in Japan after centuries of civil wars.
