Hukulou Coffee is an owl cafe. It’s famous in the Osaka area specifically for being an owl cafe. The word ‘hukulou’ is (sort of) Japanese for owl. I think it’s also a parody of local cafe chain Honolulu Coffee, but let’s not go there. Fuku, the bird in question, can apparently sometimes be seen with his best buddy, Marimo the cat.
Sometimes, huh? I rocked up at Hukulou Coffee ready to stare down an owl – and maybe spot a kitten.
“Okay, so we have an owl… and a dog… and another bird… and a lizard… and 11 cats.”
So… this is a cat cafe, yes?
Yes.
Damn it.
I’d been tricked! This is me getting cat-bombed. Cat-rolled. Outdone by a more feline, more ginger model. I wasn’t even allowed to wear shoes. They were very nice shoes, I’ll have you know.
I didn’t completely mind the cat-owl ratio, even if it was annoying. We weren’t allowed to pet or hug the cats. That put off my allergies for a good 20 minutes. I deal about as well with furry creatures as most vanilla people do. Last time I got too close to a particularly cute dog, the next morning my eye was swollen shut.
Hey. Wait a second. Maybe that dog beat me up…
This sly fox cat stayed by the sliding door the whole time. Anytime someone made a break for the free iced coffee refills, he’d scooch through and leg it downstairs. Cue a tired-looking cafe assistant hauling his fluffy butt back up here. Where he’d just wait patiently by the door until the next time.
If I was one of 11 second fiddles to an owl, I’d be an attention seeker too.
Here’s Fuku, the main attraction:
In such a large (three floors!) cat house, this owl felt like an accessory. It was on a rope, presumably so nobody got a nervous owl to the face.
I certainly got my iced latte quota out of Hukulou Coffee. They have the ‘coffee’ part down for sure. The ‘owl’ part of the bargain seemed to be lacking. Especially when I passed a ‘proper’ owl cafe not 10 minutes later which was boasting 9 of them. Sigh…
