Cat Cafe Calico: Securing some me-ow time

Cat Cafe Calico, despite breathless reports by foreign media as yet another example of just how kooky Japan is, actually works. It's all part of the recent "cat cafe" trend, and it isn't anywhere nearly as weird as it might first sound.

Cat Cafe Calico is a combo of pet store and coffee shop where visitors pay an entry fee to hang out on low sofas in a room filled with a pack (19, to be exact) of super-people-friendly cats. In a city where space is at an absolute premium, cafes like this are among the only places where many of the chronically cat-less can scratch their itch for feline companionship. And the lattes aren't half bad, either.

The Cat Cafe Calico in Kichijoji is one of two in the chain (the other being located in Shinjuku.) ¥900 gets you an hour with the kitties; every fifteen minutes thereafter run you ¥200 a pop. Those with a need for more quality time can spring for 90, 120, and 180 minute packages.