Fancy a stroll in a Japanese garden get that and more at Shinjuku Gyoen. In addition to native, traditional gardens, the 144-acre park pockets French Formal and English Landscape gardens, all of which are worth the modest entrance fee. Formerly an imperial garden (on land once home to a feudal lord’s mansion), it became a national garden after World War II—trust that this precious plot remains beautifully maintained. Best places to see cherry blossoms in March and April. In the Japanese Traditional Garden, a manicured lawn is a prime setting for a picnic (convenient, too, considering bento boxes and other treats can be scooped in Shinjuku before entering), paths meander along with ponds, over bridges, and past charming tea houses. By design, the park is easy to navigate. Landmarks are stunning and impossible to forget, like a Taiwan Pavilion perched along a serene pond. English maps are available with directions, and to make sense of the garden’s array—over 10,000 trees—the map highlights notable varieties.
Visiting in winter can feel like a frosted fantasy, but travelers might be disappointed by bare trees if luck doesn’t bring snowfall.
Animal cafes
Tokyo is famous for its many animal cafés. The original concept started with cat cafés, but has slowly expanded to accommodate a wide range of pets and other animals. It’s reasonable to have ethical concerns about these places, so we’ve filled our list only with cafés that prioritize the well-being of the animals, with no (or very few) cages and enough space for the critters to move around. Other important factors in selection were whether the animals seemed stressed out by their surroundings and whether they were given break time without people petting them.
Here’s a list of my top spots around the city, ranging from the ubiquitous cats to reptiles and owls:
▪️Capyneko
Meet the resident capybara Tawashi and his feline friends at this peculiar animal cafe located just a minute’s walk away from Kichijoji station’s south exit. The South American native animal is here to bring overloading cuteness and unlimited cuddles with eight or nine other cats to your stressful day.
▪️Mipig Café
you can cuddle with adorable miniature piggies in a cheerful and homely ambiance. Pet and play with the tiny cuties on three different floors while sipping on a cup of tea or coffee.
▪️ChikuChiku Cafe
Relaxing with little hedgehogs is high on many a traveler’s Tokyo must-do list, and this new Shibuya spot adds to the selection of cafés offering that very opportunity. At ChikuChiku Cafe you can feed, touch, and take photos with the little cuties.
▪️Temari no Oshiro Cat
A selection of 19 cats are on hand to be cuddled, and offer highly Instagrammable photo opportunities, especially at feeding time. When it comes to snacks, the smart money’s on the tasty parfaits garnished with cute cat-shaped cookies.
▪️Dog Heart from Aquamarine
You should only visit a dog café if you truly love dogs. You need to love that they will climb on your lap and lick your iPhone and make your hands smell like dogs and fight over bones and possibly do their business on the floor right in front of you. If you’re visiting Dog Heart, in particular, you should also love toy poodles since they make up the majority of the pups here (there was also one beagle in the mix when we visited).
I only stayed for 30 minutes, but you can also rent one of the dogs for an hour and take them for a walk to nearby Yoyogi Park. Either way, it’s bound to lift your mood, as dogs do.
▪️Kotori Café Ueno
A very colorful, flapping affair greets you when you walk up to the entrance of Kotori Café in Ueno. There’s no cover charge, but you’ll be expected to order at least one drink, and your visit will be limited to an hour when it’s busy. The birds are chirping away while you sip your coffee, and are of a startling variety: everything from the slightly larger white cockatoo named Taichi and a mid-sized parrot to rosy-faced lovebirds and technicolored canaries make an appearance. For those who want a small petting session, the café offers five-minute options as well
▪️MoCHA Shibuya
Lovers of small, cute cats, beware: you might not want to leave this place. I wandered around for over an hour and still didn’t want to leave the little ones. Opened in 2015, MoCHA’s interior looks as if it was designed with the cats’ well-being in mind, with lots of perches, hideouts, and even small alcoves through which they can run to the staffroom if the attention just gets a bit too much.
We went there on an early Thursday afternoon, and although there were a reasonable amount of people, the two floors and ample seating space meant it was never cramped. Nab a seat in one of the hanging chairs or on one of the couches downstairs for some of the best petting action.
▪️Snake Center
The Snake Center is home to a slithering collection of serpents, all very well-trained and non-poisonous. Pay ¥1,100 at the counter for entrance, one drink, and the right to pick out a snake of your choice to hang out with, and spend a few hours nibbling on the cake and sipping coffee while your reptilian friend observes you from the safety of its transparent box.
