TOKYO (AP) — At first, there were cafes that allowed pets. Next came the cat cafe, and the cafe latte took his second place.
TOKYO (AP) — At first, there were cafes that allowed pets. Then came cat cafes, and the latte took second place to cat interaction. Pig cafes have recently become popular in Japan.
“It was amazing. It's so relaxing and fun,” said Brad Loomis, a software engineer from Pullman, Washington, after visiting Tokyo's Mipig Cafe with his 21-year-old daughter Paige.
On a recent morning, they were all smiles as they took selfies among dozens of customers. The miniature pig wandered around the room, looking for a comfortable lap to snuggle.
Pigs occasionally snort, but are surprisingly quiet. They don't like to be alone, so they make great companionship. Contrary to stereotypes, it's very clean and doesn't smell.
Customers pay 2,200 yen ($15) for the first 30 minutes with the pigs. Reservations are required.
“Each pig has its own personality. Some are strong-willed, while others are gentle,” says Mipig executive Shiho Kitagawa, who calls the pigs “pig-san” in honorific language. he says.
Mipig Cafe, located in fashionable Harajuku, is one of 10 such pig cafes the operator has opened across Japan. The first store he opened in Tokyo in 2019. He also has two stores under construction later this year.
Known as “micro pigs,” these animals grow no larger than a Corgi dog as adults. The cafe also has an adorable piglet the size of a toy poodle.
Pig lovers say pigs make great pets. They can be purchased from Mipig for about 200,000 yen ($1,350) and are already toilet trained and used to being around people. Micro pig food is also available for sale. Mipig announced that so far he has sold 1,300 pigs as pets.
There was a drink vending machine in the corner of the cafe, but few people bothered to buy drinks because they were preoccupied with the pigs.
Foreign tourists who visited the cafe said they learned about the cafe through social media such as Instagram. Cafes do not invest in advertising. They said they made sure to include a visit to Japan in addition to regular sightseeing spots such as the ancient capital, Kyoto, during their trips to Japan.
Australian Ben Russell smiled when the pig finally sat on his lap. Although this was his first encounter with a real pig, he said pigs had always been his favorite animal, although he didn't know exactly why.
Sophie Mo'unga from New Zealand, who came to Japan with her husband and two children, was so popular with the pigs that several of them fought over her lap.
“They were cute. I think they all warmed to each other,” she said.
This pig cafe is the latest in a series of animal cafes to pop up in Japan, including ones featuring owls, hedgehogs, birds and even snakes.
Some have raised ethical questions about whether animals enjoy the experience as much as humans do.
“It must be stressful to be touched and caressed by so many strangers,” said Sachiko Higashi, president of Tokyo-based PEACE (End Animal Abuse and Exploitation).
“Animals have become tools for making money,” she says.
Her group primarily opposes animal testing and “petting zoos.” Higashi says cafes that trap wild animals are abhorrent, as cafes are often small and don't provide a sufficient natural environment for cats and small pigs. She's in favor of cafes run by shelters that find homes for abandoned pets.
Dr. Bruce Kornreich, a professor of clinical science at Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York, said interacting with animals may lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of headaches and cardiovascular disease. It also increases feelings of well-being and helps people cope with stress, he said.
“We don't know if we know the answer to how they do this,” Kornreich said. He is also a member of the Cornell Feline Health Center, which advocates for cat research and welfare.
“There is growing evidence that interacting with pets and owning pets can benefit people's mental health and physical health,” he said in a Zoom interview.
Even in the case of dogs, it is not clear whether dog walking benefits the owner's health or the presence of a friendly animal.
Whether it's a dog or a pig, it doesn't matter what it is, people will be healed and happy.
“He's so cute and he's so sleepy,” Paige Loomis said of the pig. “They made me sleepy.”
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Yuri Kageyama appears in X https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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