Asakusa's Mameshiba Cafe — Restaurant in Tokyo

I am sharing this not to shame the establishment, but to review the inappropriate treatment I experienced from one of their staff members on 19 November 2025.

I last visited this pet café in 2023 and had a wonderful experience. Because of that, I decided to return, this time with my niece and nephew. The café opens at 11:00 AM, and I arrived early, being first in the queue at 10:50 AM.

At around 10:56 AM, two female staff members stepped out from the entrance. They saw me standing in line and asked me to move away. I informed them that I was queuing for ticket purchase. One of the staff—who had short hair—became visibly impatient and quickly raised her voice at me, pointing to the notice outside and insisting on “11:00 AM.”

I calmly showed her my phone and politely mentioned in English that it was 10:57 AM, just three minutes before opening time, and asked if I could continue to queue.

The same short-haired staff member, clearly agitated, then took out what looked like an instruction notice and moved it extremely close to my face about 20 cm away, to emphasize “11:00 AM,” while giving an annoyed stare as if ready to confront me. At that distance the notice was unreadable, and the gesture felt unnecessarily aggressive.

I apologized and stepped aside. I apologized because I understand that in Japanese culture, punctuality is taken very seriously—11:00 AM means exactly 11:00 AM, and guests should not expect service or queueing privileges even a minute before.

I respect cultural differences between Singapore and Japan. However, I believe basic customer service etiquette should be universal. Regardless of cultural expectations, the staff member could have communicated her point more courteously and professionally.

Based on this experience, I chose not to patronize the café this time, and likely there will not be a second time.

My niece and nephew did eventually enter at 11:30 AM with the help of a different staff member who was much more polite...

Personally, it’s a 10/10 experience! However, please read the reviews first to understand what kind of cafe this place is.

After reading the reviews and visiting here today to experience it myself, I would say that this shiba inu cafe is more for people who are introverted.

Don’t come expecting the shiba to be all over you. Shiba dogs have a cat-like personality. You have to wait for them to come to you first.

For the first 10 minutes of my 30 minute session today, I only got to watch other people playing with the shiba because all the shibas would just walk past me.😂

After just sitting there for 10 minutes, one black shiba finally came to me and sat on my lap. (Not everyone have shibas sleeping on their laps though! Only some people that the shibas chose) My suggestion is to bring a fluffy blanket/coat with you to make a place for them to sleep.

The staffs were nice! They prioritize the shibas safety and don’t force them to interact with people. One of the staff even guided me how to lure the shiba into my lap and offer to take a picture and video for me. Thank you! :D

Overall, it was a nice experience. I’m more of a cat person and I am usually scared of dogs so the shiba inu were perfect for me! They are calm and independent, so don’t expect them to be overly happy to see human😂.

Note: if you’re interested in visiting this cafe, I suggest going early (11:00am is their opening time) to get the queue. I got there at 11am today and still got assigned to the 12:20 slot😂. Luckily the cafe is in a shopping district so you could walk around the area...

I was looking forward to seeing the shiba dogs but after entering the cafe and sitting down for a few minutes, I soon realised it was a waste of money especially considering they only allow 30 mins when you’re paying ¥1300 per person. First of all, the dogs will not come to you. If you are lucky they might, however, most of the time they won’t.

The staff were absolutely not helpful and rude in some ways. They mainly help and interacted with local customers or those who were Japanese. I asked if they could help one of the dogs sit on my lap and after asking them they proceeded to look confused and almost annoyed. They then had to use their translation tool and said they aren’t able to help or put the dogs on my lap or on others which I could ironic as they were helping others who weren’t foreigners. This was something that I found quite rude and annoying.

The staff also just stand around and talk amongst each other which I found quite interesting as I was expecting them to be more helpful. They also seem to put on a fake attitude and persona as they are much more friendly towards locals whereas they are quite intimidating and rude towards foreigners.

There are also no treats so it’s almost impossible for the dogs to come to you or interact with you. The cafe provides toys but the dogs don’t really play with them.

I would not recommend this dog cafe to anyone unless you don’t really care about...