Arriving
When we arrived at the owl cafe, we were greeted by a very polite woman. She asked us if Japanese was alright but the shop also had laminated English instructions as well for foreigners and tourists, which I thought was a very nice touch. The cost of the owl cafe was ￥1500, which is equivalent to about $13.50 currently, and this buys you an hour of unlimited self-serve soft drinks and owl pets! Food and other drinks were also available but were an extra charge. Even then, from what I saw they were never more than ￥500 or so, so they were pretty affordable.You are greeted when you walk in by these two cuties!
The Owls
There were roughly 20 owls in this cafe and they are all rescues from what I've been told. Looking at a few of them, you could definitely see that they would have trouble flying and hunting in the wild due to wing/feather issues or, blindness, or, for one, a small and deformed beak. So I am a bit more willing to believe that they are truely rescues.The cafe's Instagram (fukuroucafe.hirosaki) also shows that the owls are taken outside and to events as well so they aren't always cooped up inside! The handler in the cafe knew everything about each owl, from how much they weighed to what types of pets they like best, which was really sweet. She did a really good job of putting us at ease because, as much as I love owls, it was a bit intimidating at first trying to pet them. She showed us the proper techniques and made us much more comfortable. She was also regularly going around and cleaning up after the owls as they made messes.
The owls were not in cages but they were tethered to their respective spots by generous lengths of soft cord. There was plenty of space between them where they could have the option of cuddling up with each other or spreading out and stretching their wings. The signs by each of them told you what type of owl they were in Japanese and English, as well as their names (like the American Owl named Jenny-chan)! Some even had little messages like "You can pet this one's feet!" or the helpful but concerning "Do not pet unless holding" (only one owl had this message so I assumed he was just a grumpy boy).
They had a Great Horned Owl, a Great Grey Owl, Snowy Owls, Spectacled Owls (which I relate to, as they look perpetually concerned), Northern Spotted Owls, Rufous-legged Owls, Tawny Owls, Pygmy Owls, and Barn Owls. The two suspicious looking owls in the second picture are usually a lot more fluffy but they were trying to be intimidating towards the mean old delivery man that day!
Petting and Holding the Owls
After paying your ￥1500, you have unlimited access to owl pets and holds! I didn't hold that many owls since I was kind of distracted and, generally, in overall awe. But I did hold 3 of these beautiful babies!The Great Horned Owl, Ruby, was the first. You can see me holding her in the picture below. She really liked having her forehead and beak rubbed and was a very gentle girl. Ruby is about 3 and a half years old and she is actually blind! It was amazing what she could sense though because she would feel what direction your hand was coming from and turn towards it before you even touched her! She is the biggest owl in the cafe and was just beautiful to look at.
The next owl I held was Afuro, a Great Grey Owl. He was slightly smaller than Ruby, even if it is hard to tell in the pictures. They said he loved to look outside so he had a nice window seat where he could stare outside to his heart's content. He was actually the first thing we saw when we walked in! He could perch on your shoulder and was also very calm and gentle. I think his expression was my favorite because those wide (small) eyes in that big face just killed me!
The third and final owl we had the chance to hold was this little guy. His name is Hatsu and he is a screech owl weighing in at less than 1 pound!
Miscellaneous
Aside from the various owls, the cafe also has a hedgehog you can play with/pet and French Bulldogs that come into the cafe as well. The dogs had puppies within the last few months and we were able to pet and play with one for a few minutes, too! They were all very sweet animals and I think it is a good way to socialize the puppies, especially since I believe they would be up for adoption when they are old enough. They were obviously returned to mom and dad within a few minutes but it was still nice seeing such a cute, wobbly-legged baby! Especially since I really miss my own fur babies back in America.
