animal-cafe.com is an independent directory of animal cafés across Japan. We publish listings, photos, and reviews intended to help travellers and locals discover welfare-conscious places to meet animals over coffee. This page explains where our data comes from, how we verify it, and how we handle mistakes and conflicts of interest.
How we gather data
Our base directory is assembled from publicly available information: Google Business Profile listings, the cafes' own websites, and publicly posted Google Maps reviews. We supplement this with editorial research — visiting listings directly, checking operating hours posted on cafe websites, and corroborating details against secondary sources (travel blogs, Tabelog entries, cafe social media).
Reviews quoted on each cafe page are real Google Maps reviews, attributed to their original authors by first name and published under Google's public terms. We include a link back to the full Google Maps listing for every cafe so readers can verify and read more.
How we verify
We cross-check address, hours, and animal type against at least two sources before a listing goes live, and we re-verify any listing flagged for correction. Key fields that can change — opening hours, reservation policy, admission pricing — are re-checked before major seasonal updates (spring and autumn). Closed venues are marked as permanently closed within days of confirmation, typically using Google's "permanently closed" status.
Illustrations vs. photos
Photographs throughout the site are real photos sourced from each cafe's public Google listing, credited to Google Maps. Some pages also feature decorative hand-styled illustrations. Illustrations are clearly labelled as such in alt text — they are artistic interpretations, not photographs, and should not be used to judge a venue's actual appearance. When a cafe has no available photographs, we fall back to a generic category image rather than inventing one.
Animal welfare position
Animal cafés are controversial. We take a pro-welfare stance: our animal-type guides (especially for owls, hedgehogs, reptiles, and other species with complex husbandry needs) highlight welfare red flags and recommend venues that follow best practices for enrichment, rest, and handling. We don't remove a cafe from the directory for welfare concerns alone — travellers deserve complete information to make their own choices — but we document what we find.
Corrections
We correct errors promptly. If you spot a factual mistake on any page — wrong hours, wrong animal, closed venue, incorrect pricing — email corrections@animal-cafe.com or use the form on our Contact page. Substantive corrections are typically applied within 2–3 business days (Japan time). When we correct something that meaningfully changed a reader's decision, we note the date of correction at the bottom of the affected page.
Affiliate & sponsored disclosure
animal-cafe.com participates in affiliate programs for travel bookings (hotels, activities) and relevant pet products. When we link to an affiliate partner, we may receive a commission if you make a purchase. Affiliate links do not influence which cafés we list or how we rate them, and we do not accept payment to include a cafe in the directory. Sponsored content, when it appears, is clearly labelled as "Sponsored." Advertising on the site is served via Google AdSense, subject to Google's policies; we do not have direct relationships with the advertisers shown.
Opt-out for cafe owners
If you own or manage a cafe and would like your listing removed or updated, email hello@animal-cafe.com from a verifiable business contact (an email on the cafe's own domain, or a reply through your Google Business Profile). We'll verify and action the request within a few business days.
Independence
We are not affiliated with Google, Studio Ghibli, or any of the cafes we list. Animal-themed illustrations on the site are inspired by Japanese animation aesthetics generally; they do not use characters or trademarks from any specific studio or property.
This policy was last reviewed and updated on 2026-04-24. We review it at least annually and whenever a substantive process changes.