Chiku Chiku Cafe in Shibuya, Tokyo: Adorable Hedgehogs That Will Make Your Heart Melt
Pet cafes in Manila often only mean cats and dogs. Go to Tokyo and you will find a little pet cafe that lets you interact and be up close with adorable little hedgehogs.
Gone are the days when people used to avoid hedgehogs for their spiky bodies!
While it is located in Central Shibuya and only a 3-5 minute walk from Shibuya Station, Chiku Chiku Cafe is obscured from the main road, hidden away on the second floor of a quaint old-fashioned office building—and yet many people, particularly foreign tourists, manage to find it!
At the time of our visit, there were many foreign tourists enjoying time with the hedgehogs at Chiku Chiku Cafe!
Chiku Chiku Cafe is quite new. It just opened in December 2017, yet word of this little hedgehog cafe in Tokyo quickly got out. The cafe is especially famous among tourists, and at the time of our visit, it was amazing to find more men than women enjoying time with the adorable spike balls in dollhouses.
Everybody loves the hedgehogs at Chiku Chiku Cafe!
There are around ten dollhouses with different themes—pink bedroom, home kitchen, Japanese-style living room, or a classroom—each with one or two spiky tenants that you can visit, interact, and take photos of. There are even little accessories like hats that you can put on the hedgehogs to make them look more adorable in photos. The staff can speak basic English, so you can ask them about each hedgehog.
The biggest dollhouse in the middle of the cafe. I’d call this the main residence of the hedgehogs.
A cozy cabin with a sleepy tenant.
A clean countryside home with another sleepy tenant.
It has found the most comfortable position to sleep.
The cafe owns about 40 hedgehogs in total, but only about 15 are brought out every day to let the others get some rest.
Shy or just sleepy?
The hedgehogs have different personalities—some playful, some shy, some edgy—but these nocturnal animals are all the same in the middle of the day… Sleepy. Still, they can open their eyes for you and wiggle their tiny little toes when you pick them up. Just handle them gently and with great care because they get frightened easily. Gloves are provided if you are reluctant to hold them with bare hands.
Can I get a cuddle?
If your idea of a “cafe” is a place where you can get some meals or snacks with house-blended tea or coffee, Chiku Chiku Cafe is not that. The main attraction of this cafe is the hedgehogs. There is only a self-service coffee and tea machine with regular coffee, tea, and water, but you can get as much as you like.
If you want more flavored drinks, there are vending machines just outside the entrance to the cafe. You can bring outside food and drinks inside, but it is strongly advised not to bring food with a strong smell as the nose of the little spiky pals are sensitive.
Rates
• ¥1,300 / 30 minutes
• ¥2,500 / 1 hour
Tips
- Entrance to Chiku Chiku Cafe is good for 30 minutes to one hour only.
- Outside food and drinks are allowed inside, but refrain from bringing food with a strong smell.
- There are many vending machines right outside the cafe, if you want cheap drinks. There are also fast food places nearby.
How to get there
Walk east from Shibuya Station, crossing the streets of Inokashira Dori and Meiji Dori, until you find Daikyo Shibuya Building, a tall and slightly narrow building with a side alley lined with vending machines. On this alley, you can find the entrance to Chiku Chiku Cafe.
General Information
Address: 2F Daikyo Shibuya Bldg., 1-13-5 Shibuya, Tokyo
Operating hours: 12 pm to 8 pm
Website: hedgehoghome.cafe/en/
Facebook: ちくちくカフェ（Chiku Chiku Cafe – Hedgehog Home＆Cafe -）
Instagram: @hedgehoghome.cafe
Twitter: @CHIKUCHIKUCAFE
Payment: cash, major credit cards
Written by Rei Leaño
This first appeared in Philippine Primer English magazine’s Vol. 31 – October issue.
