Are you familiar with the Shiba Inu breed? It's a popular breed native to Japan (no, Hachiko was an Akita and not a Shiba Inu, in case anyone thought so)
Mame shiba are miniature versions of this breed, Mame meaning "beans" in Japanese. There are a lot of cat cafes and other unusual animal cafes such as owl, hedgehog, reptile, snake, etc. (No thanks to the last two though) but dog cafes are not as common (let me know if you know of others!).
What to expect?
It's not your usual cafe. Before going to an owl cafe (which was my first animal cafe), I thought it would be like a normal chill spot where you sit down, order some drinks and probably desserts and relax while you are surrounded by adorable owls. Forgive me but that was several years ago and I had no idea! But just to be clear, in animal cafes there are usually vending machines were you get a drink which is usually included in the fee, sit on the floor or small seats provided, and interact with the animals.
No food are allowed for the animal's safety and hygiene purposes as well. So, do not feed the animals!
Do not harass the animals! You're not allowed to stress them out and carry them, and let them come to you naturally.
Negative review:
The dogs will ignore you - this one was a bummer. They were probably tired of seeing too many people, and everyone complained that the dogs were looking past us on purpose, unless you catch one of the dogs' attention, in that case all of them will come running to you (and ignore you again after a while)
I felt that it was quite expensive for ¥780 per person for 30 minutes, trust me, the 30 minutes will fly by very fast.
Positive review:
Nonetheless I still enjoyed just looking at them play and bounce around. At one time a mameshiba looked over the fence beside me, I tried to hug him and he starting smelling me, then all of them came rushing to smell me too!
Despite the short time it was definitely a stress reliever. For people who can't have their own pets or are now not allowed to have dogs in their apartment, this is probably the 2nd best choice.
Harajuku Mame Shiba Cafe
3F, 1-6-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo
(along Takeshita Street)
Price:
(One drink from vending machine included)
¥780 for adults,
¥580 primary school students or younger