Owl Cafe

Before I went to Japan, I had read an article about the top ten things to see in Tokyo.  One that stood out to me was an owl cafe.  The article talked about being able to dine with the owls.  I thought that it sounded really neat, so Emily, Kimie, and I found one to go to.

I had different expectations of what the cafe would look/be like.  The owls were kept separate from the diners (for health code reasons, I suspect), and you had to have one of the menu items before you could go in and pet and hold (yes, hold!) the owls.  Additionally, we only had a five minute time limit to be in with the owls, and there were certain owls we could not touch or hold.  We had to sanitize our hands before and after being in with the owls, and they were very strict on how we were to touch the owls.

Rules and time limit aside, it was a lot of fun!  I got to pet and hold an owl!

My treat--it was a pudding, but thicker, and very yummy

Emily's treat--the cookies weren't too bad

The owls:

From inside:

Petting the owls:

Holding the owls:
Since Emily was the Japanese speaker, she was the one communicating with the owl handler (Kimie didn't want to hold or touch the owls so she stayed in the cafe area).  Emily indicated which owl I wanted to hold (so I could go first), but the lady had Emily go first, with the owl I wanted to hold (you can only hold one owl).  Consequently, we both held the same owl, even though Emily had wanted to hold a different one.  From the look on her face, I don't think she was too disappointed, though. 

 My turn: