We've all heard of cat cafés, puppy therapy, and other ways to hang out with adorable animals but have you ever heard of an owl café? Cafés for these giant-eyed birds of the night like the Ikefukurou Owl Café in Ikebukuro, Japan are popping up recently, giving visitors a chance to look at these wise, mysterious creatures up close. Although we'd previously heard of a pop-up owl café in London, the Ikefukurou Owl Café looks to be a more permanent fixture — but if this video is to be believed, it's just as adorable as you think it is.
Though the website for the café is not in English, a video made by one of the visitors shows that Ikefukurou has a variety of owls that are secured to their posts with a long string. Visitors can touch the owls, photograph them, and even pick them up off their posts to perch atop an arm or a limb — carefully! Visitors must be mindful not hurt the adorable little creature (and also be on the lookout for animal droppings). Similar cafés all over the country have varying rules. In some places, like the Owl Store in Tsukishima, you have to buy a drink and sit down in order to experience the owls; Ikefukurou, however, seems to be more of a walking space than a seating space. There seems to be no indication of a drink minimum (or a menu for that matter) from the video.
Ikefukurou Café is open from noon to 7 p.m. so the owls can go about their nocturnal, introverted habits when night falls. The 29 Facebook users who have visited have given it 4.9/5 stars, probably mostly because the owls are perfect and adorable and make silly faces that make you want to bring them home as pets.
If you aren't one of the few people in the world who have access to one of these owl cafés, check out some original footage here and prepare to explode from the entire five minutes of cuteness:
Images: Alodia Gosiengfiao/YouTube (2)
