In a previous post, I discussed the curious popularity of Owl Cafes in Japan. (Owl Cafes, September 12, 2015) A few months ago, I discovered another type of animal café, the Hedgehog café. This café was located in a popular shopping arcade in Kyoto City. Admission to this establishment was 700 yen for each block of 20 minutes.
The café was full of glass containers (they appeared to be converted fish tanks), each holding a lone hedgehog. There appeared to be more than twenty glass containers in the café, lined against the walls and placed on the middle of a table.
Customers were guided to a seat located directly in front of a glass tank holding a hedgehog.
Customers were given a short oral explanation from the staff as to the safe handling of the hedgehogs. For customers who couldn’t understand the Japanese language explanation, there were guidelines written in English.
If a customer chose to do so, they could simply watch the hedgehog move around in the glass tank.
But customers don’t pay money to only look at these animals. They want to take cute photos to post on Facebook or Instagram.
Customers also want to have contact with these animals. First-timers are given heavy garden gloves to protect themselves from the hedgehog’s needles.
Cat
cafes, owl cafes, hedgehog cafes… strangely, I have not yet found a dog café.