Cat cafe is a theme cafe whose attraction is cats that can be watched and played with. These cafes are quite popular in Japan, with Tokyo being home to at least 39 cat cafes.

But for animal rights activists, these cafes are exploitative places where animals are subjected to unnatural stress. They welcome a new ordinance, coming into force later this year, that will ban the display of animals after 8 p.m.

A cat cafe manager feared that if he closes cat cafe at 8 p.m., he’ll see red ink.
“I ask customers not to touch them if they are sleeping. At night, we dim the room light,” he said. “And cats can rest during daylight.”

He says about 80% of his customers are salaried workers who drop in for a welcome change from the daily grind of work and long commutes.

On the other hand, animal rights activists pointed out the commodification of animals in Japan was a real problem.

“Many people looking at them purely as fashion accessories, and not as lives in their own right,” they said.

How do you think of cat cafe?