BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Rent-a-friend in Japan

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Rent-a-friend in Japan: "Lola - or Rora - to give her a slightly more Japanese pronounciation - is a beauty and she knows it.

Customers pay by the hour for her company. Usually they just want to stroke her, but as a special treat for favoured clients, she will lie back in a chair, close her eyes and pose for photographs.

Lola is a Persian cat who works at the Ja La La Cafe in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara district. It is one of a growing number of Cat Cafes in the city which provide visitors with short but intimate encounters with professional pets.

When I called, there were 12 felines and seven customers, mostly single men."