Pet Loss Cafe in Japan is a sanctuary for grieving pet owners

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These days, dog and cat cafes abound, but one pet cafe in Tokyo, Japan, offers a different experience, one that is absent of live dogs and cats.

There are no living pets in the Pet Loss Cafe in the district of Omotesando in Shibuya. Instead, memories of them are shared by their pet owners grieving their loss.

Pet Loss Cafe ostensibly appears to be just like any other coffee shop, but it offers itself as a safe space for mourning pet owners who come to talk about their departed furry friends — the first of its kind in Japan. As per Japan Times on May 3, the cafe was launched inside Dearpet, the biggest manufacturer of items for pet altars in Japan, after its staff thought it apt for customers to have their own place for grieving. 

“Many customers who came to buy altar accessories said they felt more at ease after talking about their loss with our staff,” Takeshi Nibe, president of Dearpet, was quoted as saying. “However, often conversation had to be paused in the middle because staff have to attend to other customers. So, we decided to open a place where they can talk.”

Fifty-eight-year-old Ritsuko Shimazaki was Pet Loss Cafe’s first customer when it opened last February. Shimazaki, who lost her 16-year-old Shih Tzu Takeru to kidney failure and heart disease over a year ago, travels 70 minutes by train occasionally just to visit the cafe.

“I wanted to show pictures (of my lost dog) and talk face-to-face with others,” she said. “When I heard the cafe was opening, I was really excited to come.”

“More than a year has passed, but I still cannot get over it,” Shimazaki added. “I wonder if I can keep living like this.” Cody Cepeda/JB

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