We visited Owl Village / Fukurou no Sato (武蔵野カフェ＆バー ふくろうの里) in Harajuku, Tokyo in March 2016. I’m sure many of you have heard of the popular cat cafes in Japan. But the new craze seems to be these owl cafes that are popping up everywhere around the big cities.
Owl Village is literally a stone’s throw away from the iconic Harajuku Station. If you take the Takeshita exit from the station, just cross the road and turn left. Keep walking, and Google Map will help you with the rest!
When you first walked in to the cafe, you would see a bar counter and a Japanese-styled tatami area with tables and cushions for a small number of guests to rest. You’d first need to purchase the entrance fee, which was ¥1500 for one hour (inc. 30 minutes spent with the owls). We also received a little owl souvenir plus a drink of our choice as part of the admission fee.
Once you were seated, you could see the owls in the room next to you, chillin’ and checkin’ out the view (the railways looked pretty cool from up here).
We each had a drink and chilled for a bit while the previous patrons were in the owl room. It’s good to see that they allocated a number of people at any given time in the room.
Each owl was named with artworks and information about the owl provided on the wall.
We peeked and saw this particular little owl peeking right back at us with his big big eyes! Kawaii…
Once we were done with our drinks, we proceeded to the owl room. The owner kindly spoke in both English and Japanese about his owl buddies (he called them his family), explaining the name and breed and friendliness of each owl in the room. I felt like I was learning so much about owls in that time!
We were then allowed to roam and gently pat the owls. I started with the one that peeked at us earlier!
Look at us communicating! He was such a cutie, tiny and adorable.
I then took a couple of this barn owl, who looked gorgeous! According to the owner, this particular owl breed is the most popular with Japanese people, due to its friendliness towards humans. This particular one was a little naughty and very active. LOL.
There were 2 barn owls in Owl Village Harajuku, however one of them was sleeping the whole time we were in the room! Ha, nap times are the best.
We then moved to the 2 big owls in the middle of the room. These owls are rather huge, but they were actually really calm and friendly. One of them’s called Bob, can’t remember what the other one’s called.
They were so fluffy and I actually got to hold one of them. He was rather heavy, I felt like I was actually doing exercise. Oh and I love looking into the owls’ eyes. What an amazing creature!
Totes loved this experience. Meanwhile, there was one owl that was a little grumpy that day! The owner said not to touch him, and I wouldn’t want to anyway, because most of the time he was glaring at us. Oops.
But let’s not talk about the grumpy one. Let’s meet my favourite little owl… Ohagi-kun. He’s the tiniest one in the room. Look at him curiously wandering around, checking his surroundings and all.
I definitely spent most of my time hanging out with Ohagi, he will be turning one in May 2016. Yup, this one’s a little baby! He was really friendly and I think he enjoyed my attention. (I hope so.)
All in all, Owl Village Harajuku was a wonderful experience of getting to know different owl breeds and chilling with these adorable owls.
I know there are a lot of concerns regarding the owls’ health and overall condition (you know, being domesticated and chained in a small room with over-stimulation from humans all day long when they are meant to be nocturnals)… And my friends and I agreed that it was a little sad to see. So if you think you’d be affected by that, please do not visit one. On the other hand, if you would love seeing owls up close, then this is your chance.
There are many owl cafes around Tokyo. If you would like to visit one, please check their website for reservation information (some required advance reservation). I recommend Owl Village Harajuku due to its convenient location.