Home › What the law requires

Animal cafés in Japan: what the law requires

Facts from Japanese law, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and booking platforms, checked on 5 October 2026. This page does not rate or recommend any café.

Every animal café needs a registration

A business that exhibits mammals, birds or reptiles — including offering opportunities to touch them — must register with the prefecture as a Type 1 Animal Handling Business (exhibition) under the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals (Art. 10). Fish, amphibians and insects are outside this system.

Registration must be renewed every five years (Art. 13), and each site must appoint a person responsible for animal handling (Art. 22).
A prefecture must refuse a registration that does not meet the Ministry of the Environment’s standards, and can later revoke or suspend it (Arts. 12, 19). It can also inspect premises (Art. 24).
Operating without registration is punishable by a fine of up to ¥1,000,000 (Art. 46).

How to check a registration

Sign at the entrance. Each registered business must display a sign near the customer entrance showing the operator, business name and address, category, registration number, registration and expiry dates, and the person responsible for animal handling.
Ads and websites. Advertising must show the same details.
The Tokyo register. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government publishes its list as Excel and PDF files (latest: as of 1 July 2026). Tokyo exhibition registrations are numbered “…東京都展第…号” (展 = exhibition). Every café page on this site shows the café’s registration number and expiry date.

Hours for dogs and cats

Dogs and cats may be exhibited only between 8:00 and 20:00.
Cats aged one year or older may be exhibited until 22:00 if, between 20:00 and 22:00, they can move freely to a place where they can rest. Their daily exhibition span is capped at 12 hours.
During long exhibitions, dogs and cats must be able to move freely to a resting place; otherwise there must be a break at least every six hours.
Between 20:00 and 8:00, dogs and cats must not be put in contact with customers (except those adult cats until 22:00).

The 22:00 exception began in 2012 as a temporary measure and became a permanent rule, with no end date, on 1 June 2016.

Care standards since 2021

Standards in force since 1 June 2021 apply to all Type 1 businesses. Their numeric rules cover dogs and cats:

At most 20 dogs or 30 cats per full-time-equivalent staff member caring for them (phased in until June 2024 for businesses registered earlier).
Minimum cage sizes based on each animal’s body length and height.
A veterinary check-up at least once a year for dogs and cats kept for a year or more. Ministry guidance names cat cafés as covered.

For other animals, the cage rule is qualitative: enough space to stand up, lie down or flap their wings naturally. For all animals, exhibitors must show customers how to touch them, give them adequate rest, and stop customers from feeding them anything the business has not allowed.

Owls, otters, hedgehogs and reptiles

Otters. Small-clawed otters have been “International Rare Species” under the Act on Conservation of Endangered Species since 26 November 2019, after their move to CITES Appendix I. Transferring them (selling, buying, giving or receiving) is prohibited in principle, except for registered individuals (for example, otters bred in Japan or acquired before that date) and other listed cases.
Hedgehogs. Hedgehogs of the genus Erinaceus are Invasive Alien Species; keeping them is prohibited in principle. The four-toed hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) is not on that list.
Owls. Owls are not on Japan’s list of “specified animals”. Only a small number of owl species and subspecies are listed as rare species.
Specified animals. Species that may harm people — such as cobras, vipers, some large pythons, crocodilians and certain birds of prey — may be kept only with a prefectural permit, for listed purposes such as exhibition at a zoo or similar facility.

Changes announced for other mammals

In July 2026, the Animal Welfare Subcommittee of the Central Environment Council approved draft standards for mammals other than dogs and cats, including:

exhibition in principle between 8:00 and 22:00, for no more than 12 hours a day;
a place where animals can always avoid customers during contact;
hand disinfection before and after contact, and enough staff to stop improper handling;
no customer contact at night, including feeding.

The ministry expected publication around autumn 2026 and entry into force about six months later. As of 5 October 2026, the rules had not been published. Birds and reptiles are not included. We will update this page.

Booking platforms’ policies

Viator (policy last updated May 2026; Tripadvisor’s is similar) does not sell tickets for experiences where tourists physically touch captive wild animals, except in listed cases, most of them supervised by zoo, aquarium or wildlife officials. Experiences with domesticated animals, including animal exhibitions and petting zoos, can be booked if they follow responsible welfare practices.
GetYourGuide’s standards (updated June 2026) say activities involving captive wild animals will not be accepted. Its animal welfare policy (updated 26 May 2026) names cafés among settings where wild animals may not be used as a spectacle, and says the policy is still being rolled out.

What a registration does — and doesn’t — tell you

A registration shows that a business holds the registration the law requires. It is not a rating. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government does not recommend, certify or guarantee any café, and neither does this site. Tokyo’s published list does not show which animals a business keeps or inspection results, and its “exhibition” category also includes zoos, aquariums and riding facilities.

Browse registry-checked animal cafés →

Sources

This page summarizes rules as published by the Japanese government (e-Gov law texts and Ministry of the Environment documents), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Viator/Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide, as checked on 5 October 2026. It is not legal advice. The Japanese texts are authoritative; English terms are our translations. Register data: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, as of 1 July 2026; it may not reflect the latest changes.