Lucky cat Maneki-neko – fortune cat in Japan. Fortune cats with raised claws, red ears, often hanging coins or gold bars, are believed by many to have the ability to bring luck and prosperity through the centuries. It is also considered as one of the typical cultural products of the land of the rising sun. Here are some interesting facts about this famous statue. The origin is confused Fortune cats are usually white or made of gold, sold in Asian souvenir shops or Chinatowns around the world. This makes many people think that they are of Chinese origin, but in fact they are of Japanese origin. The lucky cat is called Maneki-neko, which in Japanese means “beckoning cat”. Foreign guests may mistakenly think they are saying goodbye. However, in Japan, unlike Western cultures, the way to greet is with the palm facing forward, the finger pointing down, which means that the fortune cat is “calling customers” into the store. The genius cat travels the world It remains unclear how these iconic statues spread beyond the Japanese islands to become famous throughout Asia and the rest of the world. According to a research project led by Bill Maurer, a professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, the fortune-telling cat statues date back to the Meiji period (1868-1912). In an effort to polish its image with Westerners, the Meiji Government issued the Public Ethics Ordinance in 1872. Accordingly, charms that were not displayed in prostitution, and fortune cats were prohibited. Use as an alternative decoration. From there, they began to be popular in Asian countries and communities. Then, the explosion of Japanese popular culture during the “Cool Japan” era in the 1980s and 1990s, which coincided with the second wave of Chinese immigration to the US, further helped the cat’s popularity. more worldwide. Appears everywhere in Japan In the land of the rising sun, fortune cats are popular and can be found everywhere. The Manekineko Museum of Art in Okayama displays a collection of more than 700 fortune-telling cat statues from across the ages. Cat statues are also honored every year in September when the Manekineko festival is held in many cities across Japan. In Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, there is even a street named Manekineko, where dozens of ceramic cat statues are on display. In Tokyo, you can go to Gotokuji Temple or Imado Shrine. And of course, you can see the genius cat at countless shops, restaurants… in the land of the rising sun. The meaning of the cat statue Over the centuries, the genius cat has had many different versions, serving many human purposes. The statue is blue to pray for peace when participating in traffic. Pink to pray for charm, yellow to pray for fortune and prosperity. Cats wag their right paws to “call” money and luck, but cats wag their left paws to “call” friends and customers. Cat ornaments such as ryo (an oval Japanese coin) represent wealth, and bibs or bells show the Japanese people’s affection and care for cats.

Love of love is the newest product of K-ICM. This is a handshake between the male producer and Long Hat La – a face that once caught the attention of the cover Forcing charm . On Zing MP3, recordings Love of love currently reaching 1.4 million views, ranking 2nd on the #zingchart chart after Just not together, while the MV version of the song posted on K-ICM’s channel has exceeded 2 million views. It is worth mentioning that the version of the MV is done very simply in terms of visuals, merely a backlit angle, shooting the scene of the man singing, not even seeing his face clearly. Unlike many previous investment MVs, K-ICM is investing less and less in terms of image in its products. At the beginning of April, the information that K-ICM and APJ stopped cooperating was confirmed by APJ. This farewell, as shared by APJ, is quiet and smooth. K-ICM and APJ used to be considered good partners, making the album together Who brings loneliness. After Jack, APJ was originally allowed to merge with a 1999-born music producer. K-ICM and APJ stopped working together after getting a good rating with the album Ai Brings Loneliness. Photo: Quynh Danh. The regretful farewell to APJ and the continuous handshakes Before entering the year 2021, K-ICM was active and enthusiastic in the market in 2020. Producer continuously launched music products, from singles to MVs, collaborated with many artists and also experienced many success or failure. In the early months of 2020, K-ICM abandoned the style of making pop music with pentatonic colors, folk used to be its own brand. Instead, with his first partner, Quang Dong, K-ICM showed the colors of pop-ballad. While with young vocalist Wren Evans, he brings a funky trap song. K-ICM’s ability to work must be acknowledged even though these products cause regrets. The series of songs combined with Quang Dong did not make an impression. While a handshake with Wren Evans did not bring a striking identity of the genre due to the lack of funky in Fever, the dosage of the drum was not guaranteed. Through the different colors, conspicuous, the most outstanding musical personality of K-ICM is still his variation when he combines traditional musical instruments with electronic sounds, blending traditional Eastern strings. with all kinds of keyboards. From the collaboration with Xesi in Artwork , released in early July, K-ICM returns with this color scheme. And to the album Who brings loneliness K-ICM was truly successful and re-established itself. Who brings loneliness is K-ICM’s debut album featuring APJ singer / songwriter. The scales of Vietnamese pentatonic instruments are skillfully processed with sound combined with modern music making, making the songs easy to access to the majority. Who brings loneliness, Please be lonely good Who take me away All have good access, proving that music life still has land for products using traditional folk materials. With Who brings loneliness, K-ICM has also become the rare producer in the market to have his own album, while this type of release is mainly owned by singers or musicians. Unfortunately, K-ICM and APJ did not go together longer than what was in the album Who brings loneliness . Despite the good momentum from the album, the two did not continue to have a joint product. And according to APJ’s share, before the Lunar New Year, he and his partner stopped cooperating in harmony and kept a good friendship. After breaking up with APJ, K-ICM shook hands with many different associates, both young artists, underground and rapper. Two months ago, the male producer collaborated with rapper Lil Shady – judge of King of Rap – in Homesick and RYO in The dew of flowers takes the way However, they did not spread in the market. K-ICM’s best and most noticeable song after stopping collaboration with APJ is Love of love . Love of love composed by Phan Hieu, under the company of K-ICM. The song belongs to the electronic music genre mixed with world music with folk five-tone material, K-ICM produces music and Long Hat La performs. Before Le’s charm, Long Hat La also had a few songs that were noticed. Love of love say what? Love of love is a music product that partially reflects the direction of K-ICM, at least for now. The first is that the producer is still attached to the folk music. The sound of ethnic instruments, mainly strings is still a way for K-ICM to leave an impression. Along with that is the way of knitting folk materials with electronic music and not forgetting to devote a part of land to rap. Actually the structure of Love of love and the harmony – mix when in this song there are some similarities with the hit Waves, especially the part that switched to rap. However, the overall music background is different, featuring different verses and the voice of Long Hat La is also different. The five arc has never been a difficult challenge for K-ICM, he is even the strongest in this music material. The drawback is that on K-ICM’s good and variable music background, Long Hat La’s voice is not unique and impressive enough. Particularly the rap flow and rapping voice are heavily influenced by other artists, it is no coincidence that some comments that Long Hat La is influenced by Jack in this rap. With Long Hat La, in order to have a further step in the music path, he probably still has to discover his own personality rather than too rely on good music by Masew or K-ICM. K-ICM in the MV of Le’s Love. In addition to music, the story is worth discussing Love of love It is also how K-ICM and Long Hat La launched this product silently as two underground faces. The product has almost no media promotion and no investment in image performance. The billion-dollar MV race will usually rank products like Love of love into the group “MV 0 VND”, which means no money to invest in images, background, stories, actors, no need for director or creative director. Love of love purely introducing music and whether it is good or bad. Lately, K-ICM’s recent products don’t invest much in image. The current K-ICM is working more and more quietly as a producer, with less appearances in music videos. Even so, observers can still see the fitness and hard work of an outstanding Z gene producer in a different way.