Customers play with micro pigs at a mipig cafe, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Tokyo. The Mipig Café in fashionable Harajuku is among 10 such pig cafes the operator has opened around Japan, including one in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido and another in Fukuoka on the southern Kyushu island. The first one opened in Tokyo in 2019. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
First there were cafes that allowed pets. Then came cat cafes, where lattes took second place to feline interaction. The latest craze in Japan: The pig cafe.
“It was wonderful. Very relaxing and enjoyable,” said Brad Loomis, a software engineer from Pullman, Washington, after visiting Tokyo’s Mipig Cafe with his 21-year-old daughter, Paige.
They were among dozens of customers on a recent morning, taking selfies and breaking into huge smiles. The pigs, a miniature breed, trotted about the room, looking for a cozy lap to cuddle up.
The pigs are surprisingly quiet, although they do snort now and then. They don’t like to be alone, making for great companionship. Unlike the stereotype, they’re very clean and don’t smell.
Customers pay 2,200 yen for the first 30 minutes in the company of the pigs. A reservation is required.
“Each pig is unique. Each one has his or her own personality. You may notice one may be strong-headed, and another may be gentle,” said Shiho Kitagawa, an executive at Mipig who refers to the pigs as buta-san, using an honorific.
The animals, known as “micro pigs,” don’t get bigger than a corgi dog, even as adults. The cafes also feature adorable baby pigs the size of toy poodles.
Pig lovers say they make great pets. They can be purchased for about 200,000 yen from Mipig, have already been toilet-trained and are used to being with people. Micro pig food is also for sale. Mipig says it has sold 1,300 pigs as pets.
I – Word Understanding
Stereotype– a fixed general image or set of characteristics that a lot of people believe represent a particular type of person or thing.
II – Have Your Say
1, Why are animal cafes popular in Japan?
987 At trendy Japanese cafes, customers enjoy cuddling with pigs
