Harajuku (Tokyo) Otter Cafe

Dropped by an animal cafe in Harajuku in Tokyo (Sept. 2023). This is Harry Harajuku. Various cute animals can be petted here with staff supervision (they may be placed in bins as per photos so they don’t fall off visitor’s laps).

The main attraction are river otters - namely, Asian small-clawed otters. There is some controversy about animal cafes as well as the keeping of Asian small-clawed otters as pets.

At least some of these otters were born at this facility and seem very used to visitors. In fact, visitors must remove all items from their pockets before getting their one-on-one time - otters aren’t shy about raiding your pockets, apparently.

P.S. The two “cafes” we visited had drink dispensers… not actual drink service.