I Went to a Japanese Owl Cafe and Things Got Seriously Magical

January 13, 2016

Cat Cafes have become all the rage in Japan, but in this fast-paced world, they have quickly become old news. Now Japan has a new type of animal cafe that’s been rapidly growing in popularity: owl cafes.

On a recent trip to Japan, NextShark was able to check out one of the few owl cafes.

This particular cafe is called “Ikefukurou Cafe” and is located in Japan, 〒171-0022 Tokyo, Toshima, 南池袋１−１７−１, ６F. We had to take a small elevator up to enter the cafe.

The cover charge is 1,400 yen ($12) on weekdays, 1,600 yen ($15) on weekends, and includes one drink of your choice. You can choose from teas, sodas, water and more.

Before we were allowed in, we had to read this sheet with a set of rules that had to be followed.

The time limit in the cafe is 60 minutes, which is usually enough time for you to go around and get to know each owl. All of them are trained and are friendly towards humans.

You can even ask the staff to have the owls perch on your arms or shoulder.

The bigger ones require you to wear protective gloves as the grip of the talons could hurt you.

One of the bigger downsides is that owls poop a lot. One of our staff members got pooped on while holding one. Fortunately, the cafe staff are always prepared and have wipes ready to clean up any messes.

Since they can get pretty busy, it may be wise for you to call or email ahead of your visit to make a reservation.

Pet owls are legal in Japan and are bred in captivity. We were told by the staff that their owls come from breeders from all over the world.

This particular one was our staff’s favorite. However, it kept trying to bite our hand when we tried to pet it! Then we noticed the sign in Japanese behind him that said he was still in training.

The cafe encourages customers to take photos and videos to document their experience. The staff was very helpful and spoke a little English, which was helpful.

Overall, we had a magical time.

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