Neko no Iru Kyuukeijo 299 Cat Cafe

A cat haven in Ikebukuro

In London, we have only one cat cafe, and it's always booked up weeks in advance, due to the fact it's such a novelty experience for us British. During my time in Tokyo in 2014 I was determined to visit a cat cafe, so did some research online, and decided to head over to Ikebukuro to a cafe called Neko no Iru Kyuukeijo 299, which is the second branch of Neko no Mise. It's close to the station, but a little hard to find as it's located on the 5th floor of an unnamed building, but if I can find it, then I'm sure you'll be able to.

You start by reading a few simple rules, the main one being, don't pick the cats up. You change into slippers, leave your shoes in a cubbyhole, and head into the cafe to relax with lots of extremely friendly cats. Food for the cats was available for purchase on top of the entrance fee (about ¥600 for half an hour) and you only pay for the time you spend with the cats.

The atmosphere in the cafe was lovely, there were lots of comfy sofas, places to charge your phone, wi-fi (although not accessible on my British phone), books and manga to read, scrapbooks telling you a bit about each cat, and drinks (but no food) to buy. It was a great experience which I can highly recommend. Everyone was snapping the cats with their cameras, especially when someone started a feeding frenzy by spoon feeding some of them.

People sometimes ask me whether I think it's cruel to keep cats in a cafe environment, but I can say without doubt, that no, it's not cruel. The cats are happy, pampered and well cared for, with an ever rotating supply of human friends to play with. If you're a cat lover like me, then you're guaranteed to enjoy the experience.

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