Themed cafes are a big thing in Japan, and so is Alice in Wonderland. This makes a lot of sense when you consider that Japan is the home of kawaii and of course Lolita fashion. And what better way to combine all of this than an Alice in Wonderland theme cafe? In fact, there are several Alice in Wonderland themed cafes in Tokyo alone.
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If you search for the weirdest, wackiest, craziest, strangest, scariest, spookiest or most unique restaurants in Japan, chances are you’ll come across plenty of references to the Vampire Cafe. Themed cafes, restaurants and bars are scattered all around Tokyo, with the Vampire Cafe located in the luxury shopping district of Ginza (銀座).
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Christon Cafe is a restaurant and clubbing space in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Early in the evening it functions as a restaurant (moreso than a cafe), transforming into a night club later on. Christon Cafe comes up on plenty of lists of weird themed restaurants, so we decided to check it out.
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The Asahi Beer Hall, also known as the Superdry Hall, is famous for the huge golden ‘Asahi Flame’ (or Flamme d’Or) on top of the building. The Asahi Flame is affectionately referred to as 金のうんこ ‘kin no unko’ (the golden turd) and the building referred to as うんこビル ‘unku-biru’ (the poo building) by some locals.
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Akihabara (秋葉原) – or Akiba for short – is a suburb of Tokyo filled with electronics, games, anime, adult items (or a combination of all of these) as well as plenty of maid cafes. If you’re into any of the above, you won’t want to miss a trip to Akihabara. It’s also home to one of several Gundam themed cafes, a popular venue for fans of the Gundam anime series.
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Eorzea is a Final Fantasy XIV themed cafe in Akihabara. Japan takes themed bars, cafes and restaurants pretty seriously, and game company Square Enix is not new to the themed venue playing field. Boasting several themed eateries including the popular cafe and store, Artnia, Square Enix’s most recent cafe, Eorzea opened in July 2014. Eorzea is a collaboration between Square Enix and entertainment company Pasela which runs karaoke and restaurant chains. The cafe is modelled on the Carline Canopy, a building within the Final Fantasy XIV game, and has become a place of pilgrimage for serious Final Fantasy fans visiting Tokyo.
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Themed cafes are a big thing in Japan, and one of the most popular type of themed cafe is the maid cafe (メイド喫茶 or メイドカフ). You might see these included in lists of crazy cafes and weird themed restaurants, and more specifically, in amongst a sub-category of unusual themed eateries known as cosplay restaurants (コスプレ系飲食店). If you’re interested in trying out some themed dining options in Japan, you might want to think about adding a maid cafe to your itinerary.
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April is the middle of spring in Japan, and this means that cherry blossom season is in full swing. Sakura (桜, さくら or サクラ) is Japanese for cherry blossoms, and they bloom from late March until early May. During this time, Japanese locals enjoy hanami (花見) which means “flower viewing”. Hanami can include anything from a stroll through a park with sakura in bloom, to picnics during the day or even at night under the cherry blossom trees. And of course, no celebration would be complete without themed cakes and other goodies!
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Located in an egg shaped building in Shinjuku, Artnia is both a cafe and Square Enix merchandise store. For those who are not familiar with Square Enix, this is the company responsible for Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and other games. Restaurants, bars and cafes associated with games (as well as anime) are amongst the things that Japan does best, and Artnia is no exception.
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One of the highlights of travelling to Japan around Halloween is that the food gets even more interesting. I’m not sure whether Burger King’s KURO burger was specifically for Halloween, but it was available from 19 September 2014 until early November. At the same time, McDonalds had its own black burger which was discontinued on 1 November (the day following Halloween – I learnt this the hard way and missed out!). So whether they were released to coincide with Halloween or not, I think the burgers certainly have a bit of a Halloween flavour (see what I did there?).
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