Stray cats get help finding homes at cafe in Tokyo's Akihabara district

Visitors can meet captured stray cats at Chiyoda Nyantonaru cafe in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

An association to protect cats in Tokyo will open a matchmaking spot to match stray cats with potential owners.

What is special about the cafe-like spot to open Monday in Chiyoda Ward is that visitors can watch the cats prancing about freely in a relaxed state before deciding on which to bring home.

The association, Chiyoda Nyantonaru-kai, expects that the facility located near Akihabara Station will help spread the charms of cats to more people than ever.

Beams and stairs are set up for cats to run around freely at the cafe. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Just a 10-minute walk from the station and a little bit off the main street is the Chiyoda Nyantonaru Cafe, occupying part of a former ryokan inn.

The rented space is furnished with beams and stairs to allow visitors to see the cats playing around freely. The association will have about five cats on the premises on a steady basis.

Visitors pay 1,500 yen (about 13 dollars) on weekdays and 2,000 yen on weekends and national holidays to be able to spend 30 minutes viewing the cats. The fee includes a pair of socks decorated with cat motifs and a drink.

The cafe is located at the corner of a former ryokan inn. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

"Customers can spend a good amount of time to observe the cats and understand their personality and characteristics before deciding on keeping them," said association representative Akiko Katori, 63.

In 2001, the association started its activities including spaying and neutering stray cats and handing them over to new owners at special events. Their efforts bore fruit as the number of stray cats captured that have been put down has been zero since fiscal 2011.

According to Katori, however, problems still remain at handover events. Many cats are kept in cages during the events to keep them from escaping, which makes the cats nervous and prevents them from moving freely. As a result, candidate owners cannot observe the cats' real character.

The new space removes this hurdle, Katori said.

"We want the visitors to see them running, dozing and doing other adorable behaviors," she said, "and eventually to increase the number of matches."

The cafe is scheduled to open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Though it will usually be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, on the first day of operation it will also open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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