Japan has no shortage of pet cafes, or shops where customers can come in an enjoy the company of cute animals while enjoying a coffee or tea. Over the years, the range of pet cafes in Japan has expanded into covering luxurious cat cafes and even a recently opened mini-Shiba Inu cafe. Recently, however, there has been an uptick in cafes featuring more "exotic" animals, with one of the more popular being hedgehogs. Now a new shop in Tokyo is putting a spin on the concept by introducing a dollhouse-themed hedgehog pet cafe.

The concept behind Chikuchiku Cafe (Japanese for "Prickly Cafe") can be explained with just one glance around the shop. The cafe houses a variety of hedgehogs residing in high-quality miniature dollhouses. There are ten themed-dollhouses, with styles such as "dining room", "bedroom", "bathroom", "garden", "Japanese style room", and "classroom". As you can see in pictures, the dollhouses have a charming aesthetic designed by professional dollhouse maker Akiko Tanimoto, and the cafe plans to update their lineup with various themes as time goes on.

Of course, cafes such as these do not come without some warranted criticism. While pet cafes for cats and dogs in Japan are seen as a bit more animal friendly (there are several that even double as adoption centers for any animal that you take a liking to), hedgehogs may not be the best suited for this type of environment. When a hedgehog cafe in Japan previously opened, it received a lot of complaints, with many citing that hedgehogs are often nervous and sensitive animals that don't like much commotion, and prefer to catch up on sleep during the day.

While we're not sure to what extent this helps, Chikuchiku Cafe appears to be at least somewhat aware of this. The cafe is open from noon, and children under six-years-old are not allowed to touch hedgehogs. Children under 12-years-old are not allowed in the cafe without an adult guardian, and according to PR Times, the cafe's staff have abundant experience with hedgehog care and supervise feeding, touching, and pictures taken of the hedgehogs. A larger caged area (modeled after a town) is available in the center for hedgehogs to walk in as well.

Chikuchiku Cafe opened on the second of December, and is open from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. A thirty minute stay runs 1,300 yen ($11.45 USD), and an hour stay is 2,500 ($22.00 USD) yen. Beverages are all-you-can-drink, and include coffee and a variety of teas. The cafe is located two minutes by foot from Shibuya station (East Exit), and access information can be found here.