Japanese line up to cuddle hedgehogs - carefully

Updated: 2016-04-07 09:35

(Agencies)

Japanese line up to cuddle hedgehogs - carefully
A board shows a selection of hedgehogs for sale at the Harry hedgehog cafe in Tokyo, Japan, April 5, 2016. In a new animal-themed cafe, 20 to 30 hedgehogs of different breeds scrabble and snooze in glass tanks in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district. Customers have been queuing to play with the prickly mammals, which have long been sold in Japan as pets. The cafe's name Harry alludes to the Japanese word for hedgehog, harinezumi. Prices are shown in yen. [Photo/Agencies]

A fee of 1,000 yen ($9) on weekdays and 1,300 yen on holidays brings an hour of playing with and cuddling - carefully - the prickly mammals, which have long been sold in Japan as pets despite not being native to the island nation.

"All of these hedgehogs are friendly even though some of them might spike you," said Anna Cheung, an 11-year-old visitor from Britain.

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