aVice Magazine examines a growing phenomenon in Japan: cafes that offer cats as company, in addition to food and drinks. Urban areas in the country have strict rules about cats as pets and most condos do not permit them.
So young people go to the cafes in search of pet accompaniment. Customers are overwhelmingly female and are charged by the time they spend.
The author describes the scene: "While I sipped my coffee in a room full of cats and cat groupies, I could slowly feel the soothing effects of the kitty café wash over me. Before I knew it, I was smiling for no reason and was so at ease that my eyes started to droop in a sort of happy stupor. Others must have been feeling the same numbing effects because occasionally the room full of people would fall silent as they stared at the cats’ every move."
Should these cafes make the trip to America?
