Forget cat cafes, Japan now has coffee shops where you can cuddle a pig

Pig cafes are the latest animal-themed eatery to have popped up in Japan. Others feature owls, hedgehogs, birds and even snakes

While foreign tourists gush over the concept, some have raised ethical questions about whether the animals enjoy the experience as much as the humans

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A micro pig at a Mipig Cafe in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00am, 31 Jan 2024Updated: 9:22am, 31 Jan 2024

First there were cafes that allowed pets. Then came cat cafes, where lattes took second place to feline interaction. The latest craze in Japan: the pig cafe.

“It was wonderful. Very relaxing and enjoyable,” said Brad Loomis, a software engineer from Pullman, Washington, after visiting Tokyo’s Mipig Café with his 21-year-old daughter, Paige.

They were among dozens of customers on a recent morning, taking selfies and breaking into huge smiles. The pigs, a miniature breed, trotted about the room, looking for a cozy lap to cuddle up.

Shiho Kitagawa, an executive at Mipig Cafe, cuddles a pig. Photo: AP

The pigs are surprisingly quiet, although they do snort now and then. They don’t like to be alone, making for great companionship. Unlike the stereotype, they’re very clean and don’t smell.

Customers pay 2,200 yen (US$15) for the first 30 minutes in the company of the pigs. A reservation is required.

“Each pig is unique. Each one has his or her own personality. You may notice one may be strong-headed, and another may be gentle,” said Shiho Kitagawa, an executive at Mipig who refers to the pigs as “buta-san”, using an honorific.

The Mipig Café in fashionable Harajuku is among 10 such pig cafes the operator has opened around Japan. The first one opened in Tokyo in 2019. Two more are in the works for later this year.