Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

Yes, it’s a sad situation. People get out of work later in Japan, and arriving at 8pm to pet cats after a crappy day at work is routine for many. Now that the shops need to put away their cats at 8pm, it’s going to cause a lot of problems for some shops who have that 2 hour time as a profit center. The weird thing is that there’s plenty of fire hazards among the crammed up bars, yakitori shops, which when a fire erupts kills everyone inside. Yet cat cafes are a smoke free, alcohol free environment and they can’t keep the cats out past 8pm?! Makes little sense. (Newsday – Cat Cafe Curfew)
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This article on touching pets even if you don’t have one is a big deal. According to Martin Lindstrom, “Japanese research has shown that the more time we spend touching pets, the longer we live.” As we live more online than ever, we need the touch of something alive and something that grounds us. Maybe it’ll be cat cafes that spring up in the US, but at the same time, cat cafes are really far and in between in Japan. (Fast Company – Cats) The below photo is one that we shot a few years ago. Calico Cafe is one of the cat cafe’s in Japan that’s a rental. Pay as you come in and pet cats as a therapeutic release. (GR – Calico)
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