Japan has a reputation for its wacky themed restaurants. It’s also the home of quirky themed hotel rooms. We’ve stayed in six of the best themed hotel rooms in Tokyo – read on for a glimpse into these weird and wonderful places.
Read more
The man-made island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay is a great place for shopping. It has several large shopping centres which all offer something unique. Venus Fort, with its artificial sky and Venetian themed interior, is Odaiba’s most unusual shopping centre, and one of Japan’s quirkiest malls.
Read more
If there’s anywhere in the world where you’ll find a shrine on top of a large building, it’s Japan. Aqua City Odaiba Shrine creates a great juxtaposition between traditional and modern Japan, and has spectacular views of the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo Bay.
Read more
Cardloan Girls is a website that uses moe manga characters to promote credit cards to Japanese consumers. Yes, you read that correctly: cute manga characters are now promoting credit cards in Japan.
Read more
If you’re the kind of person who likes their cocktails stirred with sex toys then Alcatraz ER just might be the place for you. It’s one of Japan’s oldest – and scariest – themed restaurants, and it’s based on a medical prison. We checked it out for some food, cocktails and screams.
Read more
Uobei Sushi is part of a cheap but tasty chain of restaurants belonging to the Genki Sushi company and found around Japan. This is where sushi, ordered via touch-screen, costs 100 Yen per plate and appears in front of you at lightning speed. It’s not your traditional sushi train where the plates ride on a slow conveyor belt for hours on end – Uobei Sushi is futuristic. We recently ate at the Shibuya branch of Uobei Sushi in Tokyo.
Read more
We spent a night in the enormous Gundam suite. If you’re after an anime themed hotel room and you’re into the Gundam series, look no further than Grand Pacific Le Daiba X Gundam Front Tokyo Project Room-G. The exclusive Gundam themed hotel rooms are the ultimate way to spend a night in total Gundam style – read on to find out everything you could possibly want to know about it.
Read more
The Kawaii Monster Cafe – かわいいモンスターカフェ – opened in August 2015 as a collaboration between artist Sebastian Masuda and Diamond Dining, the company responsible for several of Tokyo’s best known themed restaurants. No less than a match made in heaven, the Kawaii Monster Cafe is right at home in iconic Harajuku (原宿), the home of kawaii. Read on to find out about the crazy, colourful dining experience Tokyo’s most trippy themed cafe has to offer.
Read more
Daily Chiko (デイリーチコ) is a small ice-cream shop famous for its giant soft serves made of every flavor that they sell. Located on the basement floor of the Nakano Broadway shopping centre, what looks like a modest ice-cream shop has become one of Nakano’s major attractions. We made the pilgrimage to Nakano Broadway to try Daily Chiko’s Tokudai Soft Cream (特大ソフトクリーム).
Read more
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.
Read more