The animal cafe trend started in Japan years ago with cat cafes but recently, cafes featuring other animals have grown in popularity. Owl cafes have been popping up all over Tokyo and while you may not think of owls as cute and cuddly, getting up close and personal with an owl is a unique experience that is hard to top. Ikefukurou in Ikebukuro (“fukurou” is Japanese for “owl”) has about 30 owls of many different types and sizes, each raised from birth and are completely at ease with humans. They will perch on your arm or shoulder for photos and you might even get a snuggle or affectionate peck.

(I’ll exceed to word limit to explain that Ikefukurou has English speaking staff and if you use Google translate on the website, you should be able to figure out how to make a reservation via email easily. You’ll get an hour of play and photography time with the owls for about 1,400/1,600 yen weekdays/weekends.)