It’s too late for this Christmas, but if you want to pamper your pet next December, this might make the perfect gift!
Made from soft inewara rice-straw, these neko chigura (lit. cat cradle) are made by a 30-strong team of weavers in the town of Sekikawa, Niigata prefecture on the northwest coast of Honshu, Japan. The weavers are known simply as the neko chigura kai (cat cradle committee) with each cradle taking around a week to put together.
Demand for the cat beds have exceeded even the creators’ wildest dreams, however, when thousands of orders flew in during recent weeks, creating a 12-month backlog.
Chigura cradles (sometimes known as tsugura) were popular in the Taisho period (1912-1926) as the rice-straw is both strong and warm, keeping babies safe and cosy, and could be made from resources readily available at the time.
The neko chigura kai‘s cat cradles are a firm favourite with felines, who love the warmth and comfort of the as well as having something to dig their ever busy claws into.
The cradles are available with a diameter between 20cm for a “decoration model” costing 5,000 yen (US$60) up to 45cm for an extra-large model that can house two adults cats costing 18,000 yen ($220).
If you’re in the market for one of these cute little cat houses, though, you’re in for a long wait; since the neko chigura website opened, it has seen almost 200,000 visitors and orders for the cradles have gone through the roof. Although they only take around a week to produce, the current waiting time for a single order is approximately one year! We’d call that a successful little business if there ever were one…
With that many orders for cat baskets, we’d be smiling, too, ladies!
If you’re feeling particularly patient and simply must own one, the neko chigura can be ordered directly from the ladies’ website here (Japanese-only), along with photo books and soft inserts for your cat to sleep on.
Best of luck to the 30 ladies behind these cute little creations! May your success continue long into the future!
Source: Yomiuri Online Images: 猫ちぐら