Chiku Chiku Cafe — Restaurant in Tokyo

This was the best experience I have ever had! The staff were extremely helpful and very cheerful. Although we did not have a reservarion, the staff were very helpful and said we could come back at 12 pm (we came at 11:40 to ask if they had availability). They guided us through how to pick up and treat the hedgehogs, and even how to feed them. The hedgehogs were super cute and looked very healthy. It is clear that the staff takes very good care of the hedgehogs, and they even know the hedgehogs' personalities very well. The hedgehogs even have break times and rotations so that they can get a break and not get too overstimulated and so that they can rest. We paid for the 1 hour experience, and the time went by so fast, but thats how you know its good! I had so much fun in this cafe and with the hedgehogs. They also have panda mice! Those mice were adorable as well and so tiny and fluffy! They also looked like they had been taken good care of. Overall, the staff were very kind, polite, and helpful, the animals were taken well care of, and the whole atmosphere of the place was very cozy and cute! Definitley worth the money and time, would totally recommend, 10/10!!

Tips and things to keep in mind: Not all the hedgehogs desire to be touched and might try to jump off when you pick them up, but thats ok because there are many other hedgehogs that do not mind being picked up. It is best if you wear gloves for your protection because some hedgehogs might bite you or you accidentally might get hurt by their spikes. Definitley buy the treats, the hedgehogs enjoy them very much! If you like animals, definitley buy the 1 hour experience. You won't get bored in this cafe! You also get 2 stickers of the hedgehogs of your choice if you buy the 1 hour experience. If you can, and if he's available, definitley check out Pepper the hedgehog! He is very chill and does not mind being touched. He is also adorable! Do keep in mind that if you do choose to go to the cafe, he might not be available to touch because he might be on break. But if he is available, definitley check him out! I also recomend him for any young kids, as he is...

Calling this place a cafe is a stretch but I understand the premise, there is tea available but don't expect anything aside from basic matcha. As for the animals, they have a range lf animals from Hedgehogs to the lesser hedgehog varieties, aswell as some hamster/rodent type species, they are separated in pens and you pay for the handling privilege and time limit, note that if you pay the minimum you are limited to one pen which even with limited foresight you can quickly realise this is not cost effective.

Our concerns were realised when we saw the aversion the hedgehogs have to being handled, either due to overstimulation or maltreatment from patrons, the majority of the hedgehogs made quick effort to make all efforts to avoid contact, only feigning interest once they had smelled the food which you can feed them, available to purchase of course.

There was allegedly one good hedgehog with a temperament that meant you could handle without protective gloves, however protective gloves are warranted as we quickly found out overfamiliarity with the hedgehogs quickly lead to utilisation of their quills and even a bite which could be felt through the glove (handle at your own risk is the verbal contract) The lesser hedgehog had a good temperament, the rodent/hamster type animals also did not mind being handled and showed no aversion.

The one hedgehog that had a good temperament was "reserved".

There are multiple hedgehog pens throughout so its clear that they are probably rotated throughout the day so that they are not overstimulated, however the experience has left us questioning if this was still humane treatment of the animals. Despite this, the staff seemed to have a rapport and care for the animals aswell as a fundamental understanding of their needs and...

I was rather let down by this experience which was my first. It felt like a complete waste of time and money.

Firstly, I paid for two 30 min sessions for two people and two rounds of hedgehog food. We were told we would have only one hedgehog allocated which was fine. But I later was told we were assigned to one hedgehog together. So if we walked in separately and asked for 30 mins each we would pay the same amount and have one hedgehog each. But instead we paid the same amount and one person sits there while the other tries to pick up the hedgehog. I think this policy is flawed.

We were “strongly” recommended a hedgehog which I thought great, let’s go with staff recommendation. How wrong I was. The hedgehog was scared to be held and wanted to sleep. It kept pressing itself against one corner of its pen. After a couple of tries we didn’t want to persist with trying to force pick up a scared tired hedgehog. So we sat there watching a motionless hedgehog instead. The only time it paid any attention was when we tried to feed it. We got one of each, crackers and worms. Our particular hedgehog enjoyed the worms but didn’t want any crackers at all. You would think if staff was going to “strongly” recommend a particular hedgehog they would also know if the hedgehog had a preference to worms or crackers. Many animal carers do.

The whole experience just felt like a tourist trap with so called friendly staff that just say whatever to sell you product. I would not recommend going there nor would I go again. Also FYI after this poor experience I found out hedgehogs are actually nocturnal animals. So why are these hedgehog cafes set up during the day to give paying customers a rubbish experience. This is just my...