I Visited an Owl Cafe in Tokyo…and just felt sad.

Japan — Tokyo in particular — is full of animal cafes. We’ve imported this type of business here in the US in the form of cat cafes. But visiting a Tokyo Owl cafe was a distant hoot from a cat cafe.

Note: Our owl cafe visit was some time back and I’m just getting around to writing this post now. The particular owl cafe in this post is used as an example as it’s the one we visited. Per TripAdvisor it is now closed but had the blurb on their page that it met their animal welfare guidelines. This article is just my opinion and I cannot comment on any other animal cafes but question cafe type environment offering interactions with wild animals.

Animal Cafes in Japan — and the US

Cat cafes have become commonplace in the US. And the few I’ve visited near my home in the Pacific Northwest (such as Seattle’s Meowtropolitan cat cafe) have been well-run, offering environments for more active cats, hiding places for those that need a break, adoptions for cats that need a home, and a clean environment with espresso, snacks, etc.

But, along with cat cafes, you’ll find many other animal cafes in Japan. Signs and brochures revealed everything from otter cafes to penguin bars ¹

Images below: Three different animal cafe signs in Tokyo.

Are Japanese Owl Cafes Ethical?

However, the other animal cafes in Japan feel different from cat cafes, not just because the local cat cafes serve decent coffee but also because they serve to find adoptable cats new homes. Cats — and even hedgehogs (for which there’s a cafe) are commonly kept as household pets. But otters? Owls? Aren’t these creatures that belong in the wild and not in an office building?

To access the “cafe” ² we had to take a small elevator several floors up to what appeared to be a set of office rooms.

The owls, mainly, ³ were not caged but sat on perches, including a giant Great Horned Owl seated atop a magazine rack. I mistook him, at first, for a statue. Most of the owls, however, had a leash around their leg to prevent too much movement around the cafe.

One of two snowy owls walked around on the floor, continually stepping into his water dish. I’d rather save up to take a snowy owl photography trip.

I’ve seen wild animals — owls and otters included — in reputable wildlife parks or zoos. But- at least at most of the time I’ve visited my local area- this means that the animals have access to a large amount of outdoor space and freedom of movement within that environment.

Yes, in terms of longevity, owls in captivity live longer than those in the wild. And the owls at Ikefukurou seemed healthy enough, though I can’t tell how to gauge owl happiness. But I can’t see that these owls’ quality of life is better. These are nocturnal creatures being kept awake with bright lights at 11:00 AM in the confines of an office space where, yes, they get fed and cared for but cannot fly or hunt. At this particular cafe, it stated that the owls were not caught in the wild but were raised since they hatched.

Overall, my feelings were mixed. There was an element of fun in holding these birds, but those feelings were tempered by apprehension about their environment. It’s not something I’d do again.

Tokyo Owl Cafe Photo Gallery

Below are some photos I took at Ikefukurou Cafe in Tokyo

Poll

Do you think wild animal cafes are ethical?

Do you think wild animal cafes such as owl cafes or otter cafes are ethical?

It depends on conditions at the cafe5

No4

Yes0

I’m not sure/undecided0

Poll results:

reCAPTCHA field is required please complete!

Footnotes

1. And I noted a group of very drunk young Americans in a bar in the goldengai who were loudly going through the list of animal cafes they wanted to visit: “I want to visit a RACCOON CAFE!!!” exclaimed one young woman.[↩]
2. The only food part of the experience being bottled beverages from a mini fridge and a granola bar — you wouldn’t want to eat there and handle the owls, anyway.[↩]
3. Other than a bunch of tiny owls my daugher labeled as “Pigwidgeon,” though I think these were even smaller[↩]