In Tokyo, Japan, there is a hedgehog cafe.

In Tokyo, Japan, there is a hedgehog cafe.

Hedgehogs are not native to Japan but have long been sold in the island nation, where less than 20 per cent of households are estimated to have a pet. "All of these hedgehogs are friendly even though some of them might spike you," said Anna Cheung, 11, a visitor from Britain.

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Photo by Annemarie Luck.

The African pygmy hedgehog is bred to be domesticated, so the cafe isn't snatching animals from the wild. ... It makes the hedgehog cafe more ethical than many other animal cafes around the world (see: the racoon cafe in South Korea), but it's still not perfect.