Japan is familiar with foreign franchises. McDonald’s arrived in 1971 (PDF) and began like many chains as a high-end fad (in Ginza, nonetheless) before becoming a ubiquitous part of local culture. One ...

Customers play with a micro pig at a mipig cafe, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Tokyo. The Mipig Café in fashionable Harajuku is among 10 pig cafés that have opened around Japan. The animals, known as ...

Calling someone a pig isn't really an insult in these cafés because that's exactly what its residents are. The Mipig Café in Harajuku is one of the spots where tourists and locals can pay to cuddle ...

TOKYO (AP) — First there were cafés that allowed pets. Then came cat cafés, where lattes took second place to feline interaction. The latest craze in Japan: The pig café. “It was wonderful. Very ...