On our annual visit to Tokyo this year we decided that we wanted to travel around less and decided to spend 6 days in Tokyo, with Meguro in the southwest offering a reasonably priced hotel. It’s not an area I had been to before so didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be really convenient with lots of shops, restaurants and other sites within walking distance.
On the second night while out looking for places to eat, this sign on the street caught our eye. It says “Nekoya” which translates as “cat shop” but in this case means a tavern “Izakaya” in Japanese). Now, not everything with a cat on it has anything to do with cats so we were a bit cautious at first but decided that we had nothing to lose and so headed to the basement.
As we entered the building the cat statues and menu drawings made us think that there was definitely a bit of a cat theme going on but were still not sure if that meant there would be cats inside.
As we opened the door and walked in we guessed that there were no actual cats inside but weren’t expecting to find such a treasure trove of everything to do with cats. Every corner of the place was covered in cat related items from cute collections of cat figurines, posters and even bottles of sake. One of the posters features a rework of one of Marc’s favorite anime “Uch? Senkan Yamato – Space Battleship Yamato” changing “Yamato” to “Nyamoto”; “nya” being the Japanese word for “meow”. Although there were no cats in sight there was a wall of photos showing customer’s cats.
My Japanese is a bit rusty so it was a bit difficult to make head or (cat) tails of the menu. I decided to stick with things I already knew which if course included fish and deep fried tofu and pumpkin croquettes. And delicious they were too.
As you would expect all of the plates, serving dishes and condiment pots had a cat theme.
Now a trip to the toilet a Japanese izakaya is normally a very dull affair, and you’re happy if there is a western style toilet. The sight that greeted my eyes at Nekoya was something to behold. The only thing I wold say was that it wasn’t easy to relax on the loo with so many eyes watching!!
If you happen to be in Tokyo and want to visit Nekoya, you can find more details on their Facebook.
When we visited we left them a few gifts to remember us by:
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Thanks,
Iain
Wow! Loads of kitty treasures!!!
Indeed! We came across this by pure chance. 🙂
Oh my!! That is incredible!! Japan is on top if my list of places to visit… It must be amazing! X
It is well worth a visit! And they are really cat crazy nowadays 😀
What a bizarre, but very interesting place! You could make a whole TV programme about this. Thanks for sharing.
That was my thought exactly: How bizarre, but so interesting! I’m from the US, and this, culturally, is so far out for me. I would love to visit Japan and just … take it all in! lol
You should when you get a chance! And do it before Japan becomes more and more westernised 😮
Trust me it was a sensory overload in that place haha
i love the kitty figurines and the cat themed bowls.. i even saw a pair of cats (in front of the faucet) that is similar to my own collection.. i would love to be there. thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed this! 😀
Amazing pictures!
Thanks 🙂
Love the cat themed bowls and I 100% get you with their bathroom. It’s bad enough with real life cats not knowing any privacy!
LOL! Exactly 🙂
Definitely HEAVEN for cat lovers! Thanks for the virtual tour. 🙂
You are welcome 😉
Such a sweet place! Thank you for the great pics
Thanks! 🙂 Btw I heard there are some cat cafes opening in Canada! Is one of them near you?
What an intersting place! Cat bowls are lovely. The toilett is amazing, only problem comes when these cats get dusty and you have to clean them.
I wouldn’t want to be the person in charge of cleaning that place!!! Surely must take forever. Not to mention fragile items…
This place looks amazing – and a bit overwhelming! 🙂
Best way to describe it hehe
What a cute place! I will probably never make it to Tokyo, wish there was a place like this around here. Your eyes must have been tired from looking. 🙂 So glad you took pictures. It would be hard to describe.
PS: I posted a link to your page on Facebook. Hope your page is public. So amazing!
Thank you! 😀 And yes facebook page is public 🙂 We also have a linkedin page, group and twitter hehe 🙂
Reblogged this on Rattiesforeverworldpresscom.
Thanks so much!
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Stunning place! It must be a big pleasure to spend some time there ( and in the toilet, too!)
Hehe 😉 Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I love cats almost as much as I love horses. Pinned to my Pinterest board “Places to Visit.”
Thank you 😀
Fun!!
🙂
wish I had money to travel. Japan would be on my list. so many cat things to see! <3
Ah hopefully you can go one day! It’s certainly the place to be for cat lovers. 🙂