Monday Cute: Tokyo Has Opened a Hedgehog Cafe

You’ve heard of cat cafes. Perhaps you’ve even heard of rabbit cafes and bird cafes. But what about a hedgehog cafe?

This hedgehog cafe opened last February in the Roppongi District of Tokyo, Japan. It’s called “Harry,” as a reference to the Japanese word for hedgehog: harinezumi. If you’ve never had the chance to pet a hedgehog before, then you may not know they are very soft, so long as you pet them carefully and respectfully. The shyness of a hedgehog requires some quiet and patience; they are very timid compared to other animals.

Helping the public image of hedgehogs is actually part of the reasoning behind the cafe, according to Mizuki Murata, one of the employees. She told Reuters, “We wanted to show people the charm of hedgehogs, which give the impression of being hard to handle. We wanted to get rid of that image by letting people touch them. The cutest thing about hedgehogs is getting them to finally open up and show you their face.”

The shop has been quite popular since its opening. Should you have occasion to go there someday, you can purchase one hour’s time of hedgehog cuddling for the price of 1,000 yen (about $9) on weekdays, or 1,300 yen on holidays.

(via IFL Science)

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