Capyneko Cafe in Tokyo

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read our affiliate disclosure.

Around here, we love animal cafes, especially if they involve animals we’ve never seen before. We also love capybaras because they are naturally chill bros who love to party. Therefore, when we heard about Capyneko Cafe, located in Tokyo’s Kichijoji, we knew we had to pay them a visit.

Visiting Capyneko

Like many animal cafes, Capyneko has limits on how many people can enter at once. We went without a reservation, so at first we were turned away and told to come back in an hour. However, there was a cancellation, so after they called us to alert us of the opening, we quickly took the elevator up and entered. There are lockers to put your shoes and bags in, and you can purchase treats to feed the animals. You also must wash your hands upon entering, which is when we met a curious kitty hanging out by the sink.

The kitties

It was early afternoon, which apparently is nap time for the kitties. Most of them were asleep for the first part of our visit, hanging out on the many perches available to them. There was one little guy, though, who had no interest in sleeping.

This little black kitty immediately noticed the drawstrings on my hoodie.

“I must have this,” he said.

“Why?” I said.

“Gimme!” he said.

He followed me around and lunged at the strings until I tucked them inside my shirt, and after that he just glared at me, lusting after my dangling prizes.

Though the kitties were fun, they weren't the main attraction for us.

The capybara

There is only one capybara at the cafe, named Kikurage-chan. He’s a year old and still relatively small, but upheld the capybara reputation of being totally chill. He does not mind getting pet or scratched, though he didn’t seem super into it. I also wonder if, because he’s been raised around cats, he perhaps thinks he is a cat. Every now and then he’d squeal, leap up, and dart away, in the same way kittens sometimes do. His eyes were big and shiny and his fur coarse and thin and he is perfect and I love him.

Lunchtime at capyneko

During feeding time, some of the other patrons were given plates of cat food. The cats mobbed them and quickly stole as much food as they could get. Kikurage-chan was more relaxed about it. He devoured several plates of lettuce at his leisure, knowing it was all for him.

Snuggle time

After lunch, Kikurage-chan was ready for his nap, and wanted to snuggle with a nearby kitty. I scratched his butt while he nuzzled his kitty friend. They were adorable together.

Is Capyneko Cafe worth visiting?

A thousand times yes. The cats are lively and okay with being pet (though there was one that stared daggers at me and I’m pretty sure wanted to scratch my eyes out), and Kikurage-chan is worth however far you have to travel to see him. We’d never seen a capybara before, but had always wanted to, and this allowed us to check it off our bucket list in a way that was fun, relaxed, and not overly expensive. The staff was helpful, and we would 100% go again. If you’re in Tokyo, swing by Kichijoji (a fun neighborhood in its own right filled with cuisine from all over the world, including Banh mi, Mexican food, and kebabs) and check out Capyneko. It gets our stamp of approval.