My visit to a cute and cosy cat cafe in Tokyo

Cat Cafe Nekorobi Ikebukuro

So I ticked maid café off of my Japan wishlist, but one of the other cafes I really wanted to visit was a cat café. When I stayed in Tokyo for 3 nights several years ago, I came close to visiting one but didn’t (I don’t know why) so I made sure that this time round it was one of the first things I did!

And sure enough, our first full day in Tokyo we spent wandering around Ikebukuro in the pouring rain. I’d done a little online research and found out about a cat café I quite liked the sound of so we headed to Ikebukuro mainly for that reason (although I do enjoy Tokyu Hands!).

NOTHING is easy to find in Tokyo. We walked around in circles a few times and just when we thought all hope was lost, we saw it – Cat Café Nekorobi!

It was quite strange climbing the stairs, it felt a little like we were intruding on someone’s apartment building but sure enough we found the entrance to the café. We had to leave our umbrellas and shoes at the door but once we were inside it was so toasty and warm, and lovely to see the friendly smiling face of one of the staff members, a young girl who spoke very good English. She instructed us to hang our coats up and place our belongings in a locker. We were also required to wash our hands before interacting with the cats.

Cat cafes, similar to maid cafes, charge per the hour. Each cat café operates differently, at this particular one you pay a set price 1,100 yen for the first hour (1,300 on weekends/holidays) and then 250 yen (300y weekends/holidays) for every 15 minutes afterwards. Included in that price you can help yourself to snacks from the basket on the table and drinks from the vending machine. We were also given a small bag of cat treats each to encourage the cats to interact with us.

Cat Cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan

The concept of cat cafes is to give those who cannot have pets in their own homes, for reasons such as housing restrictions etc, what I like to call – a cuddly wuddly fix. Although you aren’t allowed to pick the cats up yourself, you must let them come to you.

I tell you what though – in my next life I am coming back as one of these cats! They were sprawled out snoozing all over the beanbags while us mere humans were made to crawl all over the floor!

I really enjoyed the cat café and because it was so cosy in there away from the horrible weather outside, I could have easily stayed for much longer than an hour.

Know before you go

  • Don’t be disappointed if the cats aren’t very playful. In a room full of cats and with a handful of biscuits, there was only one cat remotely interested in socialising with me and climbing onto my lap. The rest were sleeping or had climbed up high to observe their kingdom below. The sleeping cats are fine to stroke though.
  • If they have a guestbook or a little book with cat biographies in it, don’t forget to have a look. It’s a nice little touch.
  • Cat Café Nekorobi also had a laptop and games console and stuff like that, so if cats aren’t your thing and you’re dragged here against your will by a crazy cat lady or something, there is still stuff other than cats to look at.
  • There are many cat cafes dotted around Tokyo, but if you want to visit this particular one then head for Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuru and follow the building around. It’s kind of behind the department store (although there is one inside the store as well).

Cat poking its tongue out while sleeping at a Cat Cafe in Tokyo

If you enjoyed this then you might fancy reading about visiting a rabbit cafe in Tokyo.

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Cat Cafe Nekorobi Ikebukuro - cute and cosy cat cafe in Tokyo

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6 Comments

  1. Try rabbit café and owl café next time !!! ^^

    1. We did visit a rabbit cafe so I will be writing about that one soon! 🙂

      1. one in Tokyo ? I found one but that was kind of hard. I recommend the owl and parakeet café in Asakusa that was just great.I read there were more in Tokyo.

  2. Yeah in Tokyo. Was hard to find! Wasn’t aware there was an owl/parakeet café though!

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