Maneki Neko Kowakujo Guide: All Parts & Nekomancer Steps

Kowakujo is a Black Ops 7 Zombies map dropped in Season 4 Reloaded: a feudal Japanese castle in the Dark Aether with active lava rivers that damage you because Treyarch respects no one. Inside this map lives the Maneki Neko: a craftable tactical grenade based on the Japanese lucky cat. It plays music when thrown and distracts zombies like a short-range Monkey Bomb without the explosion. Charming. Useless in isolation.

The actual reason you're here: the Maneki Neko is the mandatory first step to obtaining the Nekomancer Wonder Weapon: reported to be one of the most powerful Wonder Weapons in the game. The Nekomancer is a literal cat you hold in your hands. It has three abilities: Spirit Bolt, Hairball, and Neko Punch. You will want it.

All Three Part Locations

Three parts, three potential spawns each. Only one spawns per match. Check every location listed until you find yours. The parts are the Bell (Furin), the Cat Statue (Maneki-Neko), and the Puppet/Long Statue (Karakuri).

Note: The Bell in the Staging Area is southwest of Stamin-Up near the collapsed building. Look up at the doorway: it's hanging. If you stare at the floor looking for a bell, that's on you.

Crafting the Maneki Neko

Once all three parts are collected, bring them to the crafting bench in the Workshop near Vulture Aid (also called Volt Trade in some versions). Build the Maneki Neko there. If the bench is broken, you bought it: it costs 500 salvage to repurchase from the same bench. You will need to do this if the cat tactical is destroyed mid-quest.

Crafting Bench Location

Workshop area, near the Vulture Aid perk machine. Not the Kitchen. Not the Stables. The Workshop. Find it before you have parts so you know where you're going.

Nekomancer Wonder Weapon: Full Sequence

The Kowakujo Easter Egg requires the Maneki Neko as its central item. Here is every mandatory step in order. Skip one and the sequence breaks silently, leaving you confused and increasingly hostile.

1. Unlock Pack-a-Punch. This is a prerequisite. The main quest does not care that you skipped it.
2. Build the Maneki Neko at the Workshop crafting table (all three parts collected).
3. Purchase PhD Flopper from the Storage Rooms.
4. Go to the Tenshu Entrance (Mule Kick area). Find the suspended cage on the southwest wall. Use PhD Flopper: dolphin dive or wall jump: to blow up the cage with the explosion. Pick up the cat.
5. Throw the caged cat into lava. It disappears. This is intentional.
6. Kill zombies at four specific locations to reveal invisible paw prints: (a) doorway from Central Courtyard to Kitchens, (b) doorway from Kitchens to Flower Gardens, (c) Training Area south of the Warden 308 Wall Buy, (d) doorway from Staging Area to Stables.
7. Follow the paw prints. When they disappear, move a few meters forward and kill another zombie to reveal the next set. Repeat until the prints form a circle.
8. Wait for lava to cover the floor (happens randomly each round). Throw the Maneki Neko into the center of the paw print circle. An Abomination spawns: kill it immediately.
9. Purchase Death Perception from the Stables. It highlights dangerous creaky floorboards in the next step.
10. Find the freed cat near creaky floorboards (Kitchens right of Double Tap, or two other locations). Avoid every highlighted floorboard. Sneak up and interact with the cat.
11. Carry the cat to the World Seed next to the Pack-a-Punch in Shogun's Sanctum. The cat jumps onto the seed.
12. Kill zombies near the World Seed until it pulses red. Melee the World Seed to free the cat.
13. Pick up the cat. It is now the Nekomancer Wonder Weapon. You can Pack-a-Punch it like any gun.

If the Maneki Neko breaks during step 8: There was no flowing lava at the throw point. Craft a replacement at the Workshop bench for 500 salvage. The Maneki Neko crafting process resets to buying from the bench: parts are gone. Budget accordingly.

Maneki Neko as a Tactical: Practical Use

Outside the Easter Egg context, the Maneki Neko tactical grenade functions as a short-range Monkey Bomb substitute. Throw it and nearby zombies will try to avoid it: which sounds better than it is. Zombies that avoid it can and will throw meat at you or simply route around it to reach you anyway. It plays music. You paid 500 salvage for a cat that plays music and occasionally redirects a zombie.

Use it as a breathing room tool in tight situations. Do not rely on it as crowd control. The Black Ops 7 Zombies Abomination enemies introduced on this map are not deterred by charming audio.

Recommended Perks Before Starting

Two perks are mechanically mandatory for the Nekomancer sequence. Buy them before hunting parts or you'll be backtracking during the worst possible moment.

• PhD Flopper (Storage Rooms): required to destroy the cage at Tenshu Entrance via explosion.
• Death Perception (Stables): highlights creaky floorboards, required for the cat-sneaking step.
• Stamin-Up: optional but encouraged. The map has lava. Running matters.
• Vulture Aid: near the crafting bench. Convenient. Also good for ammo management.

The Kowakujo Zombies map also introduces three new enemy types worth acknowledging: Oni (armored elites with electrical attacks: treat as priority targets), Scorched Zombies (on fire, damage on contact: keep distance), and Hellhounds (back again, still terrible, still fast). Plan your round-based Zombies rotation around these before committing to the Easter Egg steps.

Kowakujo is the second-to-last Zombies map in Black Ops 7. The final map arrives Season 5 Reloaded. If you are planning to finish the storyline: about freeing the last Shadowsmith, recovering the World Seed, and closing out Takeo and Carver's arc: now is the time to engage with this map rather than saving it for later.