When you think of Tokyo, you think of cat cafés. Or hedgehog cafés, owl cafés, and everything else they make up these days. But well, nothing is as cute and fluffy as a place with sixteen cats and kittens, so that’s where Charlotte and I went this friday.

I’ve visited a cat café before, with Riemer in Shibuya. Even though it was fun, it was a little disappointing: half of the cats were wearing a “don’t pet me” collar, the other half was chilling in a box or basket. You could wave toys all you like, the cats were giving zero fucks.

Mocha

Charlotte and I were happy to discover that a new café had opened, really close to us in Harajuku. We expected long lines, so we arrived at Mocha at exactly 10:00 this friday.

Yay, we were the first visitors! After taking off our shoes, replacing them with slippers from the über Japanese slipper dispenser, we desinfected our hands and chose for the option with drinks included. Then we entered.

What a lovely place! This cat café is quite a stretch from the dirty, smelly room we saw in Shimo-Kitazawa, where we decided to “hmm, maybe not”. This café was clean, light, and that view on Yoyogi and the entrance of the Meiji Shrine… Wow.

I Can Has Noms?

After half an hour, the cats were fed. An employee came in with sixteen bowls of food, placing the cats in a photogenic line of nomming felines.

#catfie

Talking about photogenic: there seems to be some kind of polarization filter on the windows, that makes every picture look great! (Even though I guess the intention was to stop the heat, or otherwise advancing the comfort of the cats.)

Cat-ching

While the cats were strolling through decorative bird cages and inspecting my photo gear, employees were cleaning up hairs with a roller, visitors were making cat-selfies, the minutes flew by. I felt like only five minutes had passed when Charlotte asked me: “Shall we go? We’ve been in here for an hour!” Cat café’s cost 200¥ (€1,75) per ten minutes…

Cat Café Mocha is right across from Harajuku station, Yoyogi exit. The café is opened daily from 10:00 to 20:00. Kids can’t enter. Read more at the website!

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