Tokyo's cat cafes

In Japan, cat cafes have become very popular since 2004 when the first cat café was opened in Osaka. There you can sit with friends, drink coffee or tea and at the same time you will be surrounded by 20-30 cats.

For a modest fee of between $5 and $8 Japanese animal lovers can enjoy their usual coffee surrounded by dozens of playful cats. Spending an hour in the company of cats can work wonders on the human mind, and when you’re as stressed as Japanese business-men, even more so. Many of them can’t fit a household pet into their busy schedules, so they opt for a relaxing one-hour break in the company of purring felines.

There are rules to follow in such cafes: first, you need to remove your shoes and put on slippers. Then, when you enter the cafe, one of the employee will sprays your hands with disinfectant. It is forbidden to take photos with flash, to grab tails and to wake sleeping kittens.

It helps a lot to bring some treats with you to lure cats come around you, but when the treat is gone, they will be too.