Hachiware is the name of a cat or a dog’s pattern that extends from their forehead to the cheeks, meaning there are two or three colors in their face. So you can imagine them as a bio colored cat or a mask-and-mantle cat.
Why Hachiware?
There are several theories why they are called “Hachiware”.
First theory is related to a helmet called “Kabuto,” which was worn by a samurai warrior to protect the head. The head of Kabuto is called “Hachi”, and “ware” means broken in Japanese. Hachiware’s pattern seemed like “a broken Kabuto”, so people called it Hachiware.
A broken Kabuto is not good luck because it would be broken when it’s hit by someone during a war, so it’s said that Hachiware cats or dogs were bad luck long time ago.
On the other hand, there is a theory considering Hachiware is good luck. Second theory is based on Kanji. Hachi means 8 in Japanese, and the Kanji is 「八」. Hachiware’s pattern extends from their forehead to the cheeks and looks like 「八」, so it is called Hachiware.
For Japanese, 8 is considered to be a lucky number, so Hachiware cats or dogs are considered to be good luck.
Hachiware cats in Japan
Now we do not really care if they are a good or bad luck.
Hachiware in Japan today often conjures up images of Hachiware cats more than dogs. One of the reason is the influence of a character “Hachiware” in manga “Chiikawa”.
https://t.co/C6QL5htgQu pic.twitter.com/fW9NovjawW
— ちいかわ💫アニメ金曜 (@ngnchiikawa) July 21, 2022
Hachiware cats are very common in Japan, especially white and black ones. And they are popular.
Japanese Tips for Hachiware
Hachiware/ハチワレ
hachi/八（はち）…eight
