Coffee tasting menus full of elaborate preparations and black-tie baristas are all the rage in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Calling someone a pig isn't really an insult in these cafés because that's exactly what its residents are. The Mipig Café in Harajuku is one of the spots where tourists and locals can pay to cuddle ...

It is not hard to see why people visit animal cafes in Japan. Animals are cute. Owl lovers want a close-up experience. Capybaras look so unbothered that you can imagine they’re enjoying the attention.

Critically endangered species and ones banned from international trade are among the hundreds of types of birds, reptiles and mammals that researchers identified at 142 animal cafes. By Rachel Nuwer ...