Capy Village - Capybara Cafe — Local services in Tokyo

Made a reservation for time with the capybara and it wasn’t necessarily what I had anticipated.

When making a reservation, I had thought it would have been just myself and my partner who I booked it for. However, there were 2-4 more people within the reservation so we waited our turn and had maybe 10 minutes to experience the capybara before we were moved along so we had to quickly feed, take a picture and go for the next group. It wasn’t a true reservation that I had expected or assumed it to be. So the short and minimal experience that I paid for was disappointing.

However, I will say that outside of Tonkatsu being adorable in his bath, you could tell that he was well cared for and deeply loved by staff. Although they would poke at him while he was chilling in his bath to get him up and closer to visitors, they had a whole book on him and his well being is taken into consideration. They also have hamsters and hedgehogs which were cute and also well taken care of. Staff was very friendly and fun to interact with. I did feel bad that the Tenrec was forced to get up to be held. He nestled in my hands and fell asleep.. I wonder if he was still in his hibernation period since naturally they would hibernate from October to April. The hamsters though were eager to get out and climb.

Nevertheless I was happy to see that this cafe cared for its animals. All their animals were well socialized, and they even had some hedgehogs that were on rest for specific reasons so they were kept away from being handled which was good.

Ultimately we left before our time slot ended, because I assumed when I booked capybara slot, that is what I was getting;...

Tonkatsu is so cute and it was nice to see him. However, I feel sorry for the hamsters. As someone with extensive knowledge about hamsters, I feel compelled to share my concerns about the conditions in which these animals are kept at this animal café. While the idea of interacting with small animals might seem appealing, it's important to understand that hamsters have very specific needs—many of which are not being met here.

The species of hamsters kept in the café are solitary by nature. In the wild and in proper care, they live alone and are highly territorial. At the café, however, they are rotated through a communal play area where different hamsters are placed one after another for visitor interaction. When one hamster marks the area with urine or feces, the scent left behind is perceived as a territorial intrusion by the next one, which can lead to extreme anxiety and distress.

Moreover, the housing provided to these animals appears to fall far short of basic welfare standards. A hamster’s cage should be a minimum of 120 cm long, 50 cm wide, and 50 cm tall, with at least 25–30 cm of deep substrate to allow for burrowing—an essential natural behavior. The cages are far too small, with minimal bedding.

Until improvements are made, I cannot recommend this place to anyone who cares about...

I couldn’t get a reservation (you have to book one month in advance apparently), so I came to their place at 11 AM to see if there are any places available. I was told i could come back in 2 hours, but after that the staff changed their mind and let another group of people come in front, even though I was the first to speak about a reservation. Not serious people, will not come back here next time I’m in Japan. EDIT- Since the company believes I am misrepresenting facts (another disappointment in fact)- There was no client in line, only two people far behind on the street. I went to their place and spoke to the employee who said to come back at 1PM the same day. After that, the employer spoke to the people who came after me and I was told there was no place available anymore. I tried to explain the facts ( that I was the first person who spoke to the employees, there was no line), but I was only met with cold “Excuse us”. There was nothing to do but leave. The conclusion? Either make a reservation at this place or don’t come at all. I came twice here at 11AM and I was extremely disappointed to be told off after getting excited to meet the capybaras. For the company, please make a better queuing system (preferably online). It is better to find out there are no places available than to get excited...