Osaka, Japan｜Mame Shiba Cafe

A really fun experience with the shiba uni. They were playful and funny to watch interacting with each other. The staff were nice and will help you find the right dog to play and interact with you. It’s 900 yen per person for 30 minutes. You have to buy the ticket on the 2nd floor and schedule for a later time. Once it’s your time to go, you’ll go to the 4th floor and the time will show you a video on the rules on the cafe. And then you can play with the doggies.

There are definitely mixed reviews about this café and basing this review off what I have read compared to my own visit here I think it is down to what day and time you visit. I am British and visited the café on a Monday morning in April (about 11:30am) and there were no queues to get in. There were already people inside with the dogs but we were able to purchase a ticket for the next slot at 11:45am. You get a free drink with your ticket (which is from a drinks machine so it is small) but we all know we just want to see the doggies! The staff were friendly and helpful, showing us a video on the 'rules' of being with the shibas and why those rules are in place (as they are pretty shy and skitty). From my experience the staff tried to work around the groups that were in with the dogs during the 30 mins. I managed to get a lot of cute photos and a video of them doing little tricks for us (I've included the photo of one leaning on the table haha!). The ticket price has gone up to 900円 per person now (photo from April 2023). Overall, I really liked this place. I wish we could have had a bit longer than 30 mins, but it was the highlight of my birthday none the less.

From what I've read, one of the top complaints about the Mameshiba Cafe is that the dogs "aren't friendly" enough. As a Shiba owner, I have to tell you that this is completely normal and expected for the breed. They are not your average cuddly, tail wagging, happy go lucky dog so these complaints are the result of unfair expectations. We visited both the Osaka branch and the Kyoto branch and I think Osaka is much better. It has more dogs and a bigger space. The dogs did not seem depressed or nervous to me and the staff did not force them to do anything. Shibas are a stubborn, independent breed but as you can see in the pictures, if you make space for them, sometimes they will come sleep in your lap! If not, that's fine too and some of them will accept scratches. One even jumped on another visitor's back. I recommend you go buy a ticket early because they can easily sell out of time slots.