While talking to my friend about things I wanted to do when I visited I mentioned going to an Owl cafe. My friend made reservations and we arrived early to check in before being told to leave and come back at our alloted time. Which was fine, we walked around the packed Harujuku streets and I bought a melon float from the McDonald’s drink kiosk to stay cool while we popped in and out of shops.
When we returned we paid for an hour standard course, which is about 1,500 yen per person. It is a half hour in the cafe and a half hour with the owls. This includes a drink and a souvenir. The owl village is on the 4th floor and a short walk from the JR Harujuku line station Takeshita Exit.
The Owl Village has eight owls. Two of which, when we visited, you cannot interact with. One because it’s still getting use to people and the other because it’s a baby. The rest you can pet and most of them you can hold on a gloved hand. When petting the owls you first show them your hand. If you want to hold an owl let the workers know and they will move an owl onto your gloved hand, and when you’re done they will also take the owl away.
First up is Bob the biggest owl they have, an Eurasian Eagle Owl and pretty heavy to hold. You can stroke him with two fingers from the top of his head down his back.
Next to Bob was Wasabi, also pretty big and heavy. Wasabi is a great horned owl who likes to be petted in a similar way to Bob. They are kept on a seperate side of the room from the smaller owls whom they may attack or snack on.
There are also two Barn Owls, Canon and Haku.They prefer to have their chins scratched, or the area beneath their beak.
The last two owls were my favorites, tiny Ohagi is a little owl and ridiculously adorable and soft. You cannot hold Ohagi.
The last owl has a ton of personality and is a northern white-faced owl named Schola. When we sat down next to the window seperating the owls from the cafe he popped his head up to look at us and then slowly sunk down out of view.
The several workers are the Owl Village speak English and can answer your questions. The owls are soft and friendly (unless it’s close to meal time in which they’re pretty hungry and they seem to be well taken care of. It was a fun experience that I greatly enjoyed.
There are other owl cafes in Tokyo, even another in Harujuku, so look around for what you think would be best to visit that you would enjoy.