April 13, 2016 
Here are two things that may surprise you. The first is that you’re about to watch an owl ride around on a mechanical toy horse accompanied by what might be a takeoff on the Blues Brothers’ “Rawhide” theme song. This second thing is that this will probably bring you more joy than you had any right to expect.
This owl is not just a cowboy, though, he’s part of a team of owls (but not cowboy owls) at an owl café in Kobe, Japan. Yes, that’s right. Owl cafés are a thing in Japan, along with cat, rabbit, and even goldfish cafes, which we can only assume are less…interactive.
At Bibi and George, though, it’s all about the 17 resident owls that inhabit the third-floor aviary—a menagerie of species ranging from tiny screech and burrowing owls (like our cowboy in question) to snowy owls and eagle owls.
Guests receive an instructional safety sheet in English or Japanese when they arrive, and are free to enjoy a coffee or beer on the café floor before moving upstairs to the owl party. Many of the birds at Bibi and George’s are friendly, and a few will even let you touch their heads or hold them. But all we’d really want to do is sit there, watching the Owl Cowboy ride around on his tiny horse, feeling #Blessed.
