The café, called Chamamo, was much smaller than I had imagined, but totally cool nonetheless. In this particular café there were nine cats “on staff”. It cost 1200 yen (about $12) to get one drink and spend one hour in the café. Before entering, we were instructed to wash our hands and change into slippers that the café provides.
The girl who works there introduced us to some of the cats (one of them is named “Lunch”). She told us we could pet the cats and play with them, but we weren’t allowed to pick them up. The cats at Chamamo even have space to roam around in the ceiling. Skinny pieces of criss-crossed wood decorated with leaves are situated about three feet under the actual ceiling so the cats can climb around up there if they want.
Ben and I wrote in the guest book we found on a table in the café. We found entries from people all over the world, like Germany and Taiwan. Our entries were among only a few written in English. The best part of the guest book was scoping out the different sketches of cats that visitors had drawn.
Before heading out, we groomed ourselves with the lint roller they provide at the front desk. Ben said that at a different cat café you can actually feed the cats-that’s where I’m going next.
