Tokyo's rabbit cafes hopping with customers

[xchrom]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120216f2.html


Down the rabbit hole: A customer makes new friends during a visit to the Ra.a.g.f rabbit cafe Jan. 31 in Meguro Ward, Tokyo. KYODO

Tokyo is full of cafes catering to a wide assortment of tastes, but in recent years a new breed of coffee house has emerged for people who love to hang out with rabbits.

Ra.a.g.f, pronounced "raf," opened last fall in the fashionable Jiyugaoka area in Meguro Ward, and is usually packed at weekends with customers reveling in the company of the cafe's 20 to 30 rabbits.

"I came here during my break to relax," said a smiling woman in her late 20s as she fed fresh vegetables to some of the rabbits.

Customers who want to buy rabbits can purchase the animals from the cafe's breeding center — but the cafe's rabbit "staff" are not for sale.

[LeftinOH]

1. The story doesn't play out the way the thread title promised:

[xchrom]

4. that's what i thought is was going to about when i saw it on japan times front page.

then i clicked -- and ooooh! cuteness!

[geardaddy]

7. That's what I was thinking.

Yum! Rabbit stew.

[RedCloud]

2. Bee careful if those bunnies come from a ranch!

[HopeHoops]

3. They're WAY more intelligent than most people give them credit for.

We own one (second we've had) and my wife has one in her classroom. Cunning little buggers.

[RebelOne]

9. I have owned 2 rabbits and I can attest to the fact

that they are very intelligent. And they are as easy to litter train as cats.

[HopeHoops]

12. Ours trained himself. At first we couldn't figure out why he was defiling his food bowl.

Eventually we decided to give him a dedicated "potty" and the food bowl has been clean ever since.

[hifiguy]

5. They have kitteh cafes in Japan, as well

[LynneSin]

6. Well I hope they have more success with it than that Wasp Cafe they tried last year

That pretty much closed after a week.

[RiffRandell]

8. Is their specialty "rabbit raisins"?

I have a ton of those in my backyard.

[Tabasco_Dave]

11. You mean those aren't real raisins I've been eating!

[AsahinaKimi]

10. I was kind of expecting this...