I went to the Tokyo owl cafe! Fukuro no Mise address, opening hours, directions, entry fee.
Yes, that’s an owl sitting in my blue hair! This summer, I visited Tokyo owl cafe Fukuro no Mise. This newest Japanese trend lets you drink coffee while petting over a dozen live owls.
Keep reading for the shop address, cover charge, hours of operation… and tons of fluffy owl photos!
In Japan, cat cafes (where you can play with dozens of kitties) are old news. To keep the novelty fresh, people opened up petting spaces for dogs and bunnies, and penguin bars.
Now, owls are the stars of the show. Fukuro no Mise launched in 2012, and its bizarre concept became so popular that more have opened up. Today, there are two owl cafes in Tokyo (Tori no Iru and Fukurou Sabou), and two in Osaka (Owl Family and Crew), all run by different owners.
Let me take you inside! But first, the pertinent travel info…
Owl cafe address: Seven Star Mansion 1F, 2-6-7 Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo.
How to get here: Ride the subway to Tsukishima station (it takes about 40 minutes from Shinjuku, via Oedo or Yurakucho line). Walk out of Gate 10, and the café is a few blocks ahead.
Opening hours: Sun 12-6pm, Weds and Thurs 2-6pm, Fri 2-9pm, Sat 12-9pm. Closed Mon and Tues. English speaking staff every Friday.
Entrance fee: 2000 yen ($19.50), which includes a drink and gift book. Check their website for any changes.
I recommend arriving at least an hour before doors open to make a reservation, since the spaces fill up quickly and can’t be booked in advance. (I arrived at the exact opening time, which varies depending on the date, and the earliest availability was three hours later.)
At the designated time, the staff let me in along with ten other customers. I saw real-life owls staring at me from every corner — some were smaller than my hand, others were larger than my head. There were even adorable stuffed toy owls everywhere.
All the birds are tame, and have a leg attached to the perch by string. I had an hour to enjoy their company and sip a drink that is included with the cover charge. The café doesn’t serve food, so I didn’t have to worry about beaks pecking at my plate.
I wore a mint-colored dress with a royal owl print, to match the theme cafe. It’s from the Algonquins store in Shinjuku.
The staff gave a short introduction in Japanese (if you don’t know the language, there’s an English speaker on Fridays). Then, it was owl-cuddling time. I pointed at a horned one, and the staff helped me put her on my shoulder, hand or head. The birds are calm and I felt comfortable holding them. Up close, I could sense the power of their talons and bright eyes — such majestic creatures.
So far, these cafes are unique to Japan. Customers get to see these intelligent creatures up close, and interact with them for an hour. (All photos by Said Karlsson, Tokyo-based photographer.)
Fukuro no Mise houses a variety of different species, including barn owls. I was amazed at how tame they were, sitting quietly together.
The staff gave commonsense instructions, such as “Don’t make sudden movements. Only touch the birds gently on the head or upper back.”
With a cute cartoon, this sign reminds me not to take videos or flash photos.
A lot of customers took selfies with an owl on the wrist. The girls made cute poses with their hands, next to the owls.
These two are babies, so I was only allowed to touch them twice on the head. So soft and cute!
Before the hour is up, don’t forget to browse the owl-themed memorabilia for sale.
Fukuro no Mise sells owl-decorated goods like a jeweled iPhone case, statuette, and stationery.
However, the pet owls are not for sale — although you may be tempted to take one home!
Here’s a snap of the owl-petting cafe rules and cover charges.
As you can see, the menu includes a variety of soft drinks and coffees. One drink is included with every entrance. Alcoholic beverages cost slightly more.
My Scottish Fold cat, Basil Farrow, felt left out… so here’s a photo of him. With their giant round eyes and heads, this breed is often compared to owls.
Scottish Folds are so gentle — they never scratch or bite, and love to get tummy rubs!
You can watch videos of my Scottish Fold cat with his robot-kitty clone (a moving toy from Japan!) on his kawaii blog.
For more animal-theme cafe coverage in Japan, check out my posts about Calico cat cafe, Harajuku bunny cafe, and Deco dog cafe.
Would you visit an owl cafe? What do you think the next Jpop cafe trend will be?
SHARE & COMMENT
LA CARMINA
78 Comments
the Owl is cute too lol
Wanna get there too!!! Must be awsome, I love owls ^-^
It was amazing.
Looking forward to going!
Yes, I love this idea!
It’s so unique.
That’s so cute!
Lovely !
rigolo!
haha
I want to pat owls!
I
am healous! We have owls in our yard, lately a barred owl. One year a
giant great horned owl made a nest in our tree and had 2 very loud
babies! I love them!
Aww!
That’s amazing!
I want to pet that Basil Farrow tummy!
Basil loves tummy rubs.
Oh man….can’t handle the cute……..
We love the idea of having a cafe latte while an owl sits on our shoulder.
SO Want TO pet those sweet owls!! Thanks for the scoop Lady.. ps. That white Owl with the black eye mask, like a little robber!!
he was my favorite
Awww Tokyo seems to have some awesome stuff!
xoxo
Wow! England needs one of these!
cat has no ears!
:)
I wonder if these owls are wounded ones coming from rescues and they couldn’t be returned to their natural habitat… Any story?
I love their eyes! So big and beautiful! Love the owl shirt too!
Owls are magnificent creatures!
Mi ci porti ? **
CUTEST !
Cats And owls all in one post !!
Double the fun!
Japan is the best.
Sam
yup
Agggh I need to go here now!
I love owls! I wanna go… XpX
xo
Amazing!!!
love your stuff…. wow x
I really want to add owl plushies to outfits now :3
hah do it!
Very majestic indeed!
I am screaming on the inside because of how bad I want to go here. I think of I lived in Japan I’d be here all the time! I love owls so much OvO
^_^
i tried looking for that cafe when i was there..didnt have time and couldnt find it. next time i go to japan i shall go to the owl cafe, they are so cute <3
Yes next time!
awesome
Oh my gosh, I died of cuteness when I saw the first photo. I love owls, and the obsession has only gotten greater since college where the mascot was the owl. I’m gonna definitely have to visit one of these cafes. It is surprising, however, to see them all awake and alert in the daytime.
I love owls too! I hope you can visit :)
haha the babies were pretty sleepy… so sweet….
Very cute
Owl power ^__^
There’s a great, small, and uncrowded owl cafe in Kokubunji, which is on the Chuo line about 25 minutes away from Shinjuku.
Ohh nice! Maybe I’ll go next time.
wow! Such a paradise! Have you visit penguin bar too? Would love to read that
I didn’t have time to visit the Penguin bar this time, but will try to next time! I hear it isn’t as cool though, since the penguins are in a separate enclosed area and you can’t play with them.
Watashi mo ikitai
Ikimashoo!
wheeeeeeeeere….??? next time I want to see this cafè … I miss Japan .. so much T_T.. I also love owls…
You must go next time! The address and all the info is in the post ;)
Basil with wings? Cuteness overload!
Awww yeah!
Beautiful :3
Los quiero todos!!! Jaja xD
Hey! Love the awesome write up and recommendation. Btw the address should be Tsukishima 1-27-9. :) look forward to your next Tokyo travel post!
Hi! I intend to visit this cafe next month and I read that they have English speaker staff on Fridays only. The problem is I would leave Tokyo before Friday and I dont speak Japanese. Do you think a foreigner without any Japanese knowledge like me could visit this cafe other days except Friday? :(
The owls are so tame because they drug them…
Yep, that’s freakin cray cray.
I saw your post and it said you posted an hour ago, which is impossible because the last time I heard someone use “cray cray” was last year, and even then it looked like she was trying way too hard.
You’re getting old. Make a baby. Or is the whole point to your life drinking over priced coffee and petting a fucking owl?
That’s insane.
By the way it is now 2000yen per person and you do need reservations!
Ooh, good to know! Can you make reservations in advance, or is it still the same system where you show up early to reserve a spot for the day?
hah, by next year it’ll be 50000 yen haha
This cafe made it to our TOP 5 ANIMAL CAFES around the world. Check it out here ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KRwjOAvYOA
Does that mean you had to wait for three hours, or that you got to go and do other things and come back at the time you booked? :)
We got to walk around, eat a watery type of okonomiyaki, and explore the city during that time. We didn’t need to actually stand there and wait :)
Hi April,
I wanted to thank you for writing this article and I have learned a
lot from it. I’ve been blogging about my art work for about a year and I
have to admit, I’ve made at least all of the mistakes in your article.
Can you make any recommendations for getting more visibility and getting
others to actually visit your blog? tummy tuck Sydney
So cool. Going to Tokyo in a few weeks. Can’t wait to go here….