There’s a café for everything in Japan, it seems. Cats, dogs, robots, young women dressed as submissive maids. Today, I visited an owl cafe.

Animal cafés are not without controversy. There is much discourse around the ethical treatment of animals in these environments. In 2015, I visited a dog cafe while in Seoul. It was one of the highlights of a very memorable trip and I still reflect fondly of my experience today. The dogs didn’t appear to be abused or neglected. They were playful and seemed content, their behaviours not unlike my own pets. But a domesticated dog is different than a solitary nocturnal figure normally found wild and free.

The staff at Owl Village Harajuku claim their owls are not taken from the wild and that they do routinely take them out of the small cafe for exercise and to enhance their overall wellbeing. I can’t verify this—but I also can’t be hypocritical in denying my own personal responsibility in supporting the business by visiting. While the animals seemed cared for and I did enjoy my brief time interacting with them and the personable staff, I was still left questioning myself.

And maybe that’s where I need to start.