A cat club has opened in Japan and is widely believed to be the first of its kind in the world. It's called Neko – the Japanese for cat, obviously – and takes the format of the country's increasingly popular cat cafes to the next level. Set in an impressive warehouse space in downtown Tokyo, the venue will allow our feline friends to roam free in specially designed 'pet 'n play' areas.

There will be three in total and each will be fully equipped with soft seating, scratch posts, multi-level nuzzle stations and catnip dispensers. They'll be fully soundproofed to protect the cats' hearing and be set away from Neko's main room and terrace. "Think of these areas like chill out rooms," Managing Director Tuki Yabe told the Tokyo Baka. "Our clubbers can alternate between dancing to world class DJs and hanging out with our pet cats. As a lifelong electronic music fan and dedicated animal lover, I thought this would be the perfect mix for the perfect club in Tokyo."

Neko's cat curators have sourced moggies from around the world, including rare species from Thailand and Holland as well as homeless ones from Japan's headline-making and utterly bizarre 'cat island'. "Choosing which felines live at Neko is as important as which DJs we book," Tuki Yabe also said. He and a team of researchers have hand-picked the club's cats, of which there will be around 120. "We hope to offer a diverse range of cats," he continued. "We'll also be matching cats to music. The sleek, detailed Siamese goes perfectly with techno, though wouldn't necessarily work with vocal house."

Neko's in-house programmers will curate line-ups for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Sundays will be dedicated to ambient sounds set at cat-friendly volume, allowing the animals to have full roam of the club.