food

Crazy, beautiful cafes in Tokyo and Yokohama

3 Comments
By Oona McGee

Japan is home to more than a handful of peculiar bars and restaurants. From a robot eatery to a restaurant that serves up dirt, there’s no end to the exciting dining experiences available here. But did you know there’s a wealth of strange and intriguing cafes around as well? Come with us as we take you to Tokyo and neighboring Yokohama to visit some of the most unusual, crazy, beautiful cafes in Japan.

Bundan Coffee and Beer (4-3-55 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo)

A bookworm’s paradise. Here you can sip a coffee and flick through any of the 20,000 books that surround you. And order from a menu that pays tribute to some literary greats, with offerings like “Kuniko Mukōda’s beef stroganoff” and “Haruki Murakami’s breakfast set”.

HKCR (1-50 Motomachi Paseo 2F, Yokohama Motomachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama)

H-K-C-R! What does it spell? Hello Kitty Cafe Restaurant of course! Based around the concept of Kitty-chan’s house, this cafe gives her a study, living room, dining room and a garden terrace to enjoy. Kitty’s posh interior is filled only with the things she would approve of, which includes her face on top of your coffee. The vain minx.

Aoyama Flower Market Tea House (5-1-2 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Escape from the hustle and bustle of the main street by stepping into this flowery oasis. Inside, the space is beautifully green, with a unique, naturally blooming interior. Enjoy the fragrance of flowers and the calming effect of nature with a cup of their fresh herb teas.

Panda Coffee Shop (3-31-14 Asagaya minami, Suginami-ku, Tokyo)

Calling all panda lovers! Pay homage to the object of your affections by drinking panda-labelled beer and nibbling on snacks with panda faces. With cute pandas everywhere, this is definitely the place to go to get your panda on.

PLANETARIUM Starry Cafe (Haneda Airport 2-6-5, International Passenger Terminal Building, Ota-ku, Tokyo)

Check out the first planetarium at an airport. Enjoy a cafe experience under the stars with 15-minute screenings of night-sky visuals from around the world for 500 yen. The full schedule includes a variety of screenings, including short anime movies and J-pop acts.

Q-pot CAFE (3-10-2 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Located in a mansion that’s said to be full of friendly ghosts, the atmosphere here is cute and a little spooky at the same time. Q-pot Cafe has got some very cute accessories and sweets for their customers. You’ll feel like Alice in a mini Willy Wonka Wonderland, with nine mysterious rooms, including: the chocolate room, the whipped cream and strawberries room, the biscuit room, and the intriguingly named, secret “Q room”. The doors to the secret room open on reservation only.

Fab Cafe (1-22-7 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)

The cafe’s tagline: “What do you fab?” explains it all. The home of the gummy me, this place is dedicated to fabulous fabrications, and the big, yellow laser cutting machine is the main star. Bring your USB devices, MacBooks and iPads. Those digital designs you’ve been working on can come to life here, as you use the laser cutting machine to work your magic on wood, metal or plastic. If you love creating things, then you’ll love this cafe.

Nanjya Monjya Cafe (Mitsuzawahigashi town 5-55, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama)

Go back to eating sandwiches in your childhood tree house with this real-life version for grown-ups. Using the Chinese Fringetree, known in Japanese as Nanjya Monjya, this is a tree house cafe built, yes, up a tree. Look down on Yokohama from the quietness of a treetop and sip coffee like a bird in the sky.

Moomin Cafe (Tokyo Dome City LaQua 1F, 1-1-1 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)

Moomin characters, originally from Finland, are wildly popular in Japan. You can find them on everything from stationery to dinnerware to keychains … and now they even have their very own cafe! Here you can eat Moomin-inspired creations while sitting next to a Moomin companion of your very own. This is one of the cutest places we’ve seen.

FIAT CAFFÉ (Loge Aoyama 2F, 1-4-5 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

The first cafe in the world to be opened by well-known Italian car brand, Fiat. Climb the pure white stairs to a modern space filled with the car maker’s signature red, white and green colors. Lovers of Fiat and Italy in general can come here to enjoy modern Italian culture, food and music. And to drool over the hot car in their midst.

Gundam Cafe (Kandahanaoka town 1-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

Get your Gundam sci-fi anime fix here! Right next to Akihabara Station, stepping inside the cafe here is like stepping inside a spacecraft. Surround yourself with Gundam figurines, order from the Gundam inspired menu, and get served by waitresses in Gundam uniforms.

Sources: Matome Naver Gurume Pia

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Relax at an Old Traditional Japanese House Turned Cafe -- Tokyo’s Pico Pico Cafe: Where Video Games Meet Coffee -- The Past, Present and Future of Maid Cafes

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3 Comments
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Thanks to the author for the research. Now a video would be even better...with weekly vids of new places :>)

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Any places like these in Kansai readers can recommend?

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Wow, Aoyama Flower Market Tea House looks like a really neat place to have some tea. Looking at that photo, you can almost smell the flowers through the Internet.

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