Japan is well-known for having a myriad of animal cafes. Dogs and cat cafes seem logical when apartments are small and often don’t allow animals. The health benefits of owning a pet are both physical and mental (decrease blood pressure, decrease loneliness, among other things) after all. But what of the stranger, more wild, options? How about an owl cafe?

“Luck” and the Owl Cafe

The popularity of owl cafes you could say stems from the language. As I’ve mentioned before, the syllabaric nature of the Japanese language does not lend to many sound combinations. Because sounds can be written with different kanji and completely different meanings, Japanese is great for plays on words.

As such, the word for owl, “フクロウ” (Fukurou) is much like the word for luck, or at least one of the variations of it. It can be broken into 福 (fuku, luck), 来 (ku, to come), and 郎 (ro, which is a suffix used in boys’ names), to literally mean “to become lucky”.

Another rendition is that owls can provide protection from hardship. One of my favorite Japanese prefixes, 不 (fu, without) added to 苦労 (kurou, hardship) and you get, ta-da, “without hardship”.

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You will find not shortness of owl memorabilia in Japan.

Ethics of Animal Cafes

Not to come off sounding like a PETA fanatic (sorry, they get a little crazy sometimes, and I’m all for animal rites), there are definite things you should be aware of with animal attractions. Owls, as this article is about, I think we can all agree aren’t meant to be kept cooped up.

There is always room for improvement of the welfare laws of animals, there is a Japan version of the SPCA if you are interested in learning more. With Japan soon to be on the world stage with the Olympics in 2020, it will be interesting if there are changes in what tourists impact might have on the animal cafes.

To that end, Japan is filled with animal cafes, including many options for owls. If you are concerned, look for options that contribute to animal wellbeing. Such as some of the cat cafe in Tokyo that adopt animals that would otherwise have been put down and help look for their forever homes. In essence, a group fostering opportunity.

I’m not a saint

To be honest, I’ve been to my fair share of animal cafes, including an owl “forest” in Kamakura. More interactive experience vice an owl cafe. And if you want to go, that’s on you and it was in my prerogative to go myself. No judgment here but do know that there have been instances where cafes have been shut down. See something, say something, as the phrase goes.

Café is a weird misnomer, as an aside, generally, the beverage options are out of a vending machine.

From what I experienced at 鎌倉乃フクロウの森 (Kamakura Fukurou No Mori, Kamakura’s Owl Forest), there were strict rules to follow and the birds all seemed well taken care of and not in distress. They also seemed to have much more space from the cramped pictures I’ve seen of Tokyo Cafes. If you are visiting Komachi-Dori (Kamakura’s shopping street), a 3 minute walk from the station, you can make your choice.

If you are familiar with the green and yellow V-shaped symbol that new drivers in Japan must display on their vehicles for a year before they get a real license, you might chuckle at the above. The 初心者マーク (shoshinsha mark) in this case refers to not touching this “newbie” member of the “owl staff”.

Alternative to an Owl Cafe

Frankly, I think Kamakura’s Owl Forest isn’t a bad option, and if you are trying to get out of the heat on a hot day trip from Tokyo, check it out and let me know your opinion.

That being said, there are some better options if you want to get a true experience with an owl. Fuji Kachoen Flower & Owl Park, a good option especially if you are already planning to visit Fuji’s five lakes, has the space for the birds of prey to “spread their wings”.

Seeing them in action is much cooler to me anyway. There are demonstrations a few times a day to see them in flight and if you still want your insta fix photo, you have the chance to meet the owls. However, this is limited and less potentially traumatizing to them.

So yes, it is still possible to live out your Harry Potter fantasies.

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