Vancouver is Getting a Cat Cafe Inspired By ‘Totoro’

A cafe inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s classic anime film “My Neighbor Totoro” is set to enchant customers in Vancouver, Canada.

Called the “Catoro Cafe,” the Totoro-themed cat cafe will reportedly be similar to the “Temari No Ouchi Cat Cafe” in Japan when it opens sometime this spring.

According to Nathan Chan, one of the four owners of the cafe, the Catoro Cafe will open at 666 East Broadway, the former location of Mensch Jewish Delicatessen.

Imagination Corporation, a company that specializes in the design and construction of custom environments, was in charge of decorating and creating a magical atmosphere for the cafe.

Chan told the Daily Hive last year that the establishment will have a cafe, a lounge side as well as a cat cuddling side.

“Their work looks like it’s out of a storybook, like things you’d see in The Hobbit. Think castles and pirate ships,” Chan was quoted as saying.

Entering the cafe, Chan claims, would be like stepping into the world dreamed up by Miyazaki himself in the movie masterpiece.

Catoro partnered with the Cat Therapy & Rescue Society, which will provide adoption cats to the cafe where customers will have the option to play with and even possibly take home an animal.

“A lot of the cat cafes in Asia at more geared toward spending time with cats, no social cause,” says Chan.

The cafe intends to highlight the cat overpopulation problem in the region and connect as many cats with potential owners as possible.

“There is a national crisis of feline overpopulation across Canada. It was estimated in 2012 that there is one cat to every three humans in Canada. In addition, there are at least 600,000 stray cats roaming the streets. The problem with most cat shelters is that they don’t have enough exposure and they aren’t perceived to be particularly attractive in the public eye,” says Chan.

“We plan to have a long-term partnership with CTRS and develop a local community rescue space that can expand to help more cats in the future,” he added.

Chan and his team have set up a GoFundMe page so they can “build a safe, functional and sanitary shelter for the cats within Catoro Cafe.”

Featured Image (left) via Instagram/Catorocafe, (right) GoFundme/Nathan Chan

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