Cat Cafe!! Welcome to Neko Land!

The best cat ever.

One of the worst things about Japan is you don't come across
 too many cats.  I had a faus-adopted orange cat with a stubby tail that I fed from time to time.  His name was Heathcliff, but for some reason I started called him Garfield. I would see traps set up for him baited with tempting fish heads from the neighboring sushi restaurant.

Also, I heard that you cannot have a pet if your apartment isn't big enough.  Apparently, its because all the apartments in Japan are so small, and it could be considered animal cruelty to stuff an animal inside of an already occupied shoebox.  Either way, the country has come up with a great solution: Cat Cafes.

Basically, you pay money to go hang out with a bunch of cats.  Empty my pockets and count me in.

True love. Well, he will come around someday at least.

I googled around and found Mama Neko Cat Cafe near Gokiso in Nagoya.  Sometime in February, Carrie and I took our day off to finally go check it out.  It cost about $1500 yen for an hour with the fluffy fur balls and that includes a free drink.  

cat lovers must wash hands before handling cats

do not pick up the cats

After washing our hands and seeing pictures of the handling rules, we were led up some stairs, filled lockers with our belongings and then led to the paradise room. 

Lounge area to enjoy drinks and various cat themed literature

Where the magic happens

A couple was inside with the cats and I felt a brief murder pang.  We wanted the cats to ourselves.  But the cat god was listening and eventually they left and we slipped in through the sliding glass doors to begin naming our new best friends. 

on the brink of suicide

I think his name was Kenny G. He was a fighter.

Creepy toed Cat.

Dom Delouise (think An American Tale)

Some fabulous reading material in the lobby (Ok, fine, its a picture book):

The Exorcism Dinner: Paul looked at his mother and vowed prove he was adopted.

Uh Uhn Giiiirl. No you didn't!

Carrie flirting with her fave.

And this was our goodbye dance.