Kamakura Owls’ Forest — Attraction in Kamakura

Please, I implore you, do not make my mistake and arrive here excited to photograph yourself with and pet owls. These are beautiful birds of prey with no physical deformities, no hindrances on their ability to survive in the wild, gaining no benefit from being in this place. On the contrary, they’re woken up constantly by people like us touching them while they’re either frightened or anxious. I took care of birds like these for some time, I felt nostalgia when I saw the cafe, I thought to myself: “they must just sit a few owls down and you sip tea near them and that’s the gimmick.” No, they are chained, their feathers are patched and uneven, they do not want this and I was foolish for being so idealistic about their conditions. Please go elsewhere, to a temple to a food stand, buy a scarf nextdoor! Do...

Please do not come here. It was my first time in Japan and I knew that there were lots of animal cafes so I made sure to visit some. I was expecting Owls that might fly around or be in some enclosed habitat that I could see, but these Owls were in CHAINS. They are shackled to a branch all day and are snapped at and pestered by customers that laugh at their pain and cause them constant distress. I regret going there. It was way too hot for the creatures and many of the Owls were panting and distressed. This owl with its mouth open was so hot it was panting. He was very close to the entrance and clearly distressed. I regret coming here....

Inside was nice and cool, no smell at all. It is located on the 3rd floor. They thoroughly explained how to pet an owl, as well as advised which owls not to pet. It was very clean inside. Would definitely recommend going at least once. They have a really cute gift shop with owl themed gifts. Entrance for adult was ¥700, if you bring your receipt(from owl forest) to the Maneshiba Cafe one floor under you get a discount of ¥100. All owls there were beautiful and looked like they were well...