The questionable art of nekoyoke

Nekoyoke (猫よけ) literally means "scare cat" where neko (猫 or ねこ) means "cat" and I suppose yoke (よけ) means "to scare" (at least in this context). You may wonder why anyone would want to scare cats as they are not only adorable, but they are also majestic and wonderful creatures.

Exhibit A: Look at that belly!

However, in Japan (or at least around Tokyo), there are a lot of stray cats and people consider this a problem. Well, I consider it a problem in the sense where all cats deserve loving homes, but there are other issues with stray cats in principle. As a result, people put up various nekoyoke to keep them away from their homes and gardens.