Why work from home when you can work from a Japanese cat town?

Well, there are a few reasons, actually. 

While the rest of the world has been “working from home” during the pandemic, people in Japan have been “teleworking“. Some might argue it’s essentially the same thing, but with Japan avoiding strict lockdowns, and homes here generally being a lot smaller than those overseas, people have been working away from both the office and the home, enjoying “workations” at unusual places like public bathhouses, capsule hotels, and even Ferris wheels.

Now, there’s another location to add to the list of unusual options for the telecommuter, and it’s dubbed the “Nya Workation Plan” (“Meow Workation Plan”). As the name suggests, this telecommuting plan involves cats, and it’s being offered by “Nyanja Town”, a new area inside Namja Town, an indoor amusement park operated by Namco in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro Ward.

▼ “Nyanja Town” (“ニャンじゃタウン”) opened on 1 October.

“Nyanja Town” combines the Japanese word for “meow” with the name of the theme park, and it’s said to be located at the bottom of a set of “secret stairs”. Our reporter An Suzu decided to try the workation plan for herself, and while she was expecting the place to be like a regular cat cafe, it was more like a feline palace.

Stepping into the cat’s domain, An saw the tables for teleworking were located at the end of this long room.

An made her way to the tables, walking past lounging cats, who yawned as she passed them. Once she’d set up her laptop and gotten comfortable at one of the desks, An got the strange sense that there was a set of eyes on her.

▼ Looking around, she realised she was being given the once-over by this inquisitive feline.

To her surprise, the cats came out from their hidey holes and approached her, their big eyes seemingly pleading with her to ignore her job and play with them instead.

An didn’t need a lot of convincing to leave her desk and give the kitties a little attention, but when she returned to her workstation, there was…a feline sitting on her chair, inspecting her work. 

Once the studious little animal acquiesced to An’s presence, it jumped off her seat and onto the table, where it was joined by another curious cat. The two cats then proceeded to walk all over her laptop and notebook, doing the feline community proud with their commitment to disrupting the work of humans.

▼ An’s pen quickly became a playtoy…

▼ …and when she attempted to pull her notebook away from her furry new friend…

▼ …it sat itself down on her notebook as if to stop her from getting any work done at all.

Those big, imploring eyes melted An’s heart, and she decided then and there that she didn’t care if she wasn’t able to get any work done that day.

▼ The tail flicks from this blue shorthair wouldn’t have let her touch her laptop anyway.

▼ An may have been away from the office, but she was still being heavily supervised by these superior beings.

Each workation plan lasts two hours, and that time absolutely flew by as the cats refused to leave An alone. According to staff, these friendly felines are attracted to laptops due to their warmth, and the sound of typing attracts their attention and piques their curiosity.

The “Nya Workation Plan” costs 2,500 yen (US$22.04), and as there are only two desks available, reservations need to be made in advance online. One thing to note is the workation plan doesn’t include Wi-Fi, so you’ll have to make sure you bring your phone or a portable Wi-Fi device with you when you visit.

Of course, if you’re like An, though, you won’t need Wi-Fi in the end because these cats will make sure you don’t get any work done anyway. So if you really do want to get some work done, you’d be better off postponing a trip to cat town and investing in this tiny log house instead.

Informaton

Namja Town / ナンジャタウン
Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 3-1-3 World Import Mart Building 2nd floor
東京都豊島区 東池袋3丁目1−3 ワールドインポートマートビル2階
Open 10:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Credit: