Calico Shinjuku

Hmmm… Overpriced and the cats are not very friendly. Well, if it’s a cat café, I would hope cats are more friendly than having them trying to avoid being padded unless you have food in your hands. Also, the café makes money off from you buying their snacks. Basically, if you want to enjoy the fullest, pay for snack or there’s no cat going to be meowing at you.

All in all a nice experience.
the cat café is located on the 5^th and 6^th floor, just enter the building and take the elevator. There is a small sign on the sidewalk to advertise the café and to mark the entrance of the building.
Staff is very polite and speaks english quite well. They know their animals individually and are happy to explain to you which cat likes to be stroked in which way.
Beverages and dishes are inexpensive since you are paying directly for your time with the cats, not via a surcharge on food and drinks. Minimum stay 1hr, 1000¥, after the first hour it’s much cheaper, planning 2hrs is a good idea.
All cups will be given with a small lid to cover your cup, and cake will be served in an additional room so you can eat without getting bothered by little feline beggars, but it has windows to watch the cats.
Important: at 5:30 it’s feeding time, so if you’re there at that time you get cat food for free (usually 300¥).

This place is awesome. I mean where else are you going to be able to watch the game while being surrounded by the cutest pussies Japan has to offer? Not only that but you can buy snacks and have them all run to you. Watch out though, the ones with red scarves are diseased pussy and can’t be fed.

Another ‘first’ for me while in Japan… visiting a cat café.
I’m a dog person, by far, but majority of my friends wanted to check out a cat café as it appeared to be a lot more popular than any other animal café (at least in Tokyo).
Calico takes up two floors inside a small building (with a very small elevator), but the main entrance to the café is located on the 6^th floor. All of the staff were very welcoming and took the time to explain the rules and give us heads-​up on certain cats who don’t like to be pet in particular areas.
There were about 15 cats in the café, all of which appeared to be healthy and well taken care of. Some of them were awake and playful, but majority of them were either asleep or grumpy and uninterested (I don’t blame them…). Side note: During our visit, there was a man sleeping with a cat beside him, too.
We paid 1,200¥ for one hour because it was the weekend, but we only stayed for 30 minutes. I may have stayed longer if I was a cat lover and because I thought the concept is new, different, and interesting. However, after visiting a dog café (also in Tokyo), I question my support for animal cafes in general.

This concept is finally reaching Oakland last year and I heard San Francisco is getting one soon as well. Who wouldn’t like the idea of being able to see a bunch of fur balls sleeping or running around. Only difference is in Oakland, the cats could be adopted (which is a good imo) but in Japan these 30 plus cats are residents at the Café.
Calico Cat Café in Shinjuku charges 1,000Y which is about $ 8.50 per hour. There are a ton of rules, don’t pick the cats up, don’t rub their belly, etc, etc. but I partially understand because cats can be big grumps sometimes and use claws and teeth.
I thought for sure these cats would be super social, and some were friendly to other customers but in the end cats are cats. I have a cat at home and he only likes me and the wife, he doesn’t trust new people easily, he gets grumpy, he’s a food whore, he only wants my attention at the most inopportune times, then the other half of the day he’s sleeping.
Long story short is I didn’t need an hour with these cats. 20 minutes was more than enough. It was too crowded with people wanting the attention from moody cats. If I see another Cat Café, I’ll just remind myself I got a cat at home already. Why rent a movie when I can download it on a torrent site for free.

Not a cat expert but most of the cats here seemed purebred. They aren’t the most people friendly (some tried to avoid getting touched). I would recommend purchasing chicken to feed to them. It costs around 500 yen but it is worth it because that’s when the cats approach you. Just try not to feed the cats with the red scarves around their neck due to some sort of health problem. The staffs will advise you when you get there.

Honestly we spend about 15 minutes in here and left disappointed. Perhaps it’s because we went later in the day (Around 6PM I think) but the cats didn’t seem interested in people in the least bit. The place was also pretty crowded and I think I touched 1 cat. I was so excited to come but in the end it was a waste of money and time. This is the Cat Café Calico Shinjuku.