Adorable Alert: Japan’s Top 3 Animal-Themed Cafés to Melt Your Heart

By the MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Team

Pet-friendly restaurants have been on the rise in recent years, not only offering environments where you can dine with your furry friends, but some have even introduced special menus crafted just for pets—to satisfy your pet’s stomach and warm your heart. But if your impression of animal-themed cafés still stops at cats and dogs, you’re a bit behind the times. In recent years in Japan, there has been a growing trend of animal-themed cafés where, while enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee, you can also interact and play with goats, owls, or even capybaras. It’s quite an experience.

● Sheep Café: ‘Sakuragaoka Café’
Located about a five-minute walk from Shibuya Station toward Sakuragaoka-chō, there’s “Sakuragaoka Café,” which features a dedicated sheep area next to its outdoor seating. With one black and one white sheep, their adorable grazing looks quickly made them the café’s stars—not only becoming the shop’s mascots but also winning the hearts of nearby residents and children.

Originally, the café didn’t have any resident animals. A year after opening, the owner suddenly thought of using the extra space in the restaurant to raise some animals. But since there were already too many cafés with cats and dogs, they came up with the idea of bringing in one black and one white goat. The black goat is named “Chocolate,” and the white one is “Sakura.” Sakuragaoka Café is open from noon until the early hours of the morning. Unless the sheep are asleep early, you can see these two adorable little sheep until as late as 1 a.m.