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A café is a nice place to stop, take a break, refuel, and maybe enjoy some air conditioning or ambiance. Lots of people prefer their favorite local hole in the wall or the beloved Starbucks here in America, but what about over in Japan? Tokyo is known for its themed cafés, but which ones should you visit?
The 21 best themed cafés in Tokyo, in no particular order, are as follows:
- Vampire Café
- ARTNIA Square Enix Café
- Ninja Akasaka
- Maidreamin
- PEANUTS Café
- Gundam Café
- Moomin House Café
- Pompompurin Café
- Swallowtail Butler Café
- Cinnamoroll Café
- Kawaii Monster Café
- Pokémon Café
- Alcatraz ER
- Little TGV
- 8bit Café
- Godzilla’s Restaurant
- Rokunen Yonkumi
- One Piece Café
- Totoro Cream Puff Café
- Doraemon Café
- Straw Hat Café
In this article, I will cover each of the cafés listed in more detail, providing you with their phone number, location, and even a website if I can. I’ll also tell you everything there is to know about these establishments, such as where you can find the café, what kinds of food/drinks they have, and what makes it worth visiting in the first place. Let’s go!
Tokyo’s 21 Best Themed Cafés
1. Vampire Café
Halloween is coming up next month, but the Vampire Café in Ginza maintains the spook factor all year long. As the name tells you, this café has a rather macabre theme: vampires.
A Diamond Dining establishment in the heart of the Ginza shopping district, you have to climb to the seventh floor of the building here to reach the Vampire Café. With lots of maroon velvet curtains, candles, and even coffin-shaped booths and menus, this place really takes its theme seriously.
Some of the rooms, like bathrooms and mirrors in halls, have blood streaks, but don’t worry, as it’s not real blood. If you’re hoping to come in here for a quick beverage, keep looking, as the Vampire Café has more restaurant vibes than those of a quick in-and-out establishment. All the food, besides being delicious, maintains the creepy vibes in its presentation.
Contact info: 104-0061 Tokyo, Chuyo City, Ginza, 6 Chome-7-6 | 81-3-3289-5360
2. ARTNIA Square Enix Café
If you happen to pass through Shinjuku and you’re a huge fan of Square Enix, then you will not want to miss the ARTNIA Square Enix Café. Located at Square Enix’s Shinjuku headquarters, aka a giant skyscraper, the building should catch your attention anyway.
Inside, you’ll find a shop where you can buy as much merch pertaining to Square Enix’s intellectual properties as your heart desires and your wallet allows. Then there’s the café, a clean, white space with plastic tables and chairs and artfully arranged ceiling lights.
Lattes decorated with Final Fantasy character artwork and delicious fluffy pancakes topped with fruit and a sweet dollop of whipped cream are just some of the food items you can sink your teeth into when you visit this café. When you’re done eating, work off your meal by taking in the small museum within the café, which fans lovingly refer to as the Final Fantasy shrine.
Contact info: Shinjuku Eastside Square, 6 Chome-27-30 Shinjuku City, Tokyo | 81-3-6457-6714
3. Ninja Akasaka
If you’d like to take in true ninja culture, then mosey your way over to Ninja Akasaka. This restaurant/café, as the name implies, will let you experience a healthy dose of authentic ninja-ness. For starters, all the food has ninja-inspired names, such as the shuriken star-blades grissini or ninja-style roast lamb with Korean flavoring.
The presentation of your dishes sticks within the theme perfectly, too. Food is served with ninja blades protruding out of the center of some dishes or with decorative shurikens (bet you never thought you’d eat anything with decorative shurikens, huh?). The bonsai trees here are even edible, and they’re a sweet treat to boot. Just maybe ask permission before you start snacking.
Within the establishment, you’ll find rock-clad walls, small manmade ponds with dragon sculptures spitting out water, and sliding wooden doors that give the place a real Japanese flavor without being over-the-top.
Contact info: Tokyo Plaza Akasaka, 100-0014 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Nagatacho, 2 Chome-14-3 |81-3-5157-3936
4. Maidreamin
Maidreamin is definitely the type of place that comes to mind when you think about a themed café in Tokyo. The café is filled with maids who, according to the website, “do their best…to put smiles on masters and princesses’ faces.”
Depending on the uniform the maids wear, they’re at different levels. For instance, the plainest dress is that of a trainee. Next, there’s the regular maids, then the dream maids, and finally, the kiralis maids at the highest level. Also, the maids will have badges on their uniforms that let you know what they can and cannot do. Those maids wearing yellow badgers can perform 10 or more songs and those with pink badges can do a live show.
You can even pay extra to take photos with the maids so you have a memento of your unforgettable day. This costs between 800 and 1,500 yen depending on the package you choose. Of course, there’s food and drinks, too.
Contact info: 3-16-17 Sotokanda, Chiyoda, 101-0021 Tokyo Prefecture | 81-3-6905-7735; you can also visit more than 15 other Maidreamin locations
5. PEANUTS Café
If you like Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, and the gang, then make it a point to stop by the PEANUTS Café at some point during your trip to Japan. It’s Tokyo’s little homage to the great American comic. While the café maybe doesn’t look as bright and flashy as some of the other places on this list, its menu is utterly charming. Plus, it’s located near the Meguro River, so it makes for a nice sightseeing destination.
The interior has really great Peanuts collectibles, including some merch that was limited edition. After you’re done taking in all the cool stuff, head upstairs and get ready to eat. You can enjoy a slew of items here, including drinks, desserts, and salads. Some of the menu standouts are a berry cheese cream, walnut and carottes rapees, and goose egg sliders with buns embossed with Snoopy’s face.
If you truly love Snoopy, make sure you shop the café’s selection of clothing, dishware, and more featuring the lovable dog mascot and other Peanuts characters. When getting off at Nakameguro Station, you can easily get to the PEANUTS Café by walking for less than 10 minutes. Don’t miss it!
Contact info: 2 Chome-16-7 Adobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo | 81-3-6452-5882
6. Gundam Café
With the Gundam statue such a beloved Tokyo landmark, it make sense to have a Gundam Café in the vicinity. You can get there from the Toei Subway by walking three minutes, the Tsukuba Expressway from Akihabara Station by walking only two minutes, and the JR Line from Akihabara Station by foot in one minute.
The menu includes alcoholic beverages in Gundam-etched glasses, food like sandwiches and pizza, and ornate desserts. Make sure you order a latte, as the staff here will decorate the foam to look like your favorite Gundam characters.
When you’re finished eating and sipping, don’t leave the café without checking out the attached shop. Here, you can find great souvenirs and maybe a gif or several for yourself. The Gundam shop is stocked full of keychains, t-shirts, mugs, posters, and even Gundam ramen. Yep, you read that right. Gundam ramen.
Contact info: 1-1 Kana, Hanaokacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo | 03-3251-0078
7. Moomin House Café
The adorable Moomin House Café is dedicated to a Finnish series of comics and books that began in the 1940s called the Moomins. These curious characters include Moomintroll or Moomin, the main character, his friend Snork Maiden, Sniff, Moominmamma, and Moominpappa.
The café is decorated with all things Moomin, including the wallpapering and the artwork. You may even spot some plush Moomin characters sitting at the booths. Besides the sweet quaintness of this café, it’s also got pretty delicious offerings. One dish, the Souvenir Moomin House Pancakes, may cost 1,800 yen, but it’s totally worth the price.
That’s because this breakfast or dessert includes milk-based pancakes (a unique take on a standard pancake recipe) and ceramic figurines of all the Moomins, one of which you get to keep.
Contact info: 131-0045 Tokyo, Sumida City, Oshiage, 1 Chome-1-2 | 81-3-5610-3063
8. Pompompurin Café
In case you’re not familiar, Pompompurin is a giant golden retriever wearing a beret. He’s a Sanrio creation and has been around since 1996. Although he’s not as well-known as Hello Kitty, he did get his own café, so there.
The Pompompurin Café is anything but understated. The door is surrounded by a giant outline of the sweet dog. Once you get inside, you’ll see the décor has Pompompurin everywhere, from giant ceramics in the main entry to plushes, toys, and all the merch you can shake a stick at everywhere else. The lovely white and yellow striped benches are reminiscent of the dog’s color scheme as well. The café opened in 2014.
You can get lunch or drinks at this establishment, with the most noteworthy dish the chicken-coconut curry. Not only does this have authentic Japanese curry with a twist, but the meal comes out shaped like…yes, you guessed it, Pompompurin.
Contact info: Cute Cube Harajuku, 150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 1 Chome-7-1 3 | 81-3-5786-0770
9. Swallowtail Butler Café
If Maidreamin is more for the men, then the Swallowtail Butler Café is for the ladies. Instead of women in maid costumes, this establishment has men in butler uniforms. Meant to mimic the premise of some anime, women can come alone or with a partner.
The Victorian theming throughout makes the Swallowtail Butler Café a fun place to visit regardless. The exterior has faux ivy crawling along the entry sign, and inside, plush curtains, crushed red velvet surfaces, posh artwork, floral wallpapering, and ornate light fixtures abound.
As you might imagine, such an upscale establishment has a fine dining menu, with dainty desserts and fancy drinks sure to make your mouth water.
Contact info: 170-0013 Tokyo, Toshima City, Higashiikebukuro, 3 Chome-12-12 | 81-3-5957-1555
10. Cinnamoroll Café
Getting back to the cutesy stuff, next, I’ve got another café for you that’s dedicated to a Sanrio character. This time it’s the adorable Cinnamoroll, a white dog with long ears, little pink cheeks, and blue eyes.
It’s a newer café, having opened its doors in 2017. According to Sanrio lore, Cinnamoroll used to reside in Café Cinnamon, so he may know a thing or two about cafés. If you’re near Shinjuku Station, you only have to walk six minutes to get to this fun establishment.
You can get a full meal here, with drinks, food, and dessert. Some favorite dishes include the shortcake, the beef stroganoff, and the omu rice. All three meals have traces of the adorable dog, whether the food is shaped like him, served in cups and on plates with his face, or even straws with Cinnamoroll paper inserts.
Contact info: Shinjuku Marui Annex, 160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, 3 Chome-1-26 | 81-3-6380-1175
11. Kawaii Monster Café
I hope you’re not feeling overdosed on cuteness yet, because I absolutely have to talk about the Kawaii Monster Café. During the day, they’re a saccharine café filled to the brim with colorful cakes, candy, and other sweets. There are some savory items, too, I swear, like salads and sliders.
By night, the Kawaii Monster Café transforms into a party zone with events like Tokyo Under Land, Thursday Burlesque, Tokyo Pop Culture Night, and Kawaii Night. While the overwhelmingly colorful and cute aesthetic doesn’t die off once the sun goes down, the establishment does become more decidedly risqué.
This café is pretty much the physical representation of Harajuku: trendy, colorful, bright, brash, and fashionable. Don’t miss your chance to visit and take some awesome pictures to decorate your social media feed.
Contact info: YM Square, 150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Jingumae, 4 Chome-31-10 | 81-3-5413-6142
12. Pokémon Café
Pokémon is a franchise that needs no introduction. Debuting in the late 1990s, Pikachu and the gang have caught on with billions of people, not only in Japan, but in the US, too. I remember growing up with the Pokémon games on Gameboy as well as the trading cards and anime, and I’m sure lots of other people do, too.
The Pokémon Café is a chance to relive your childhood while making awesome new memories. All the dishes are emblazoned with the faces or body shapes of your favorite Pokémon, from Pikachu pancakes to curry or rice balls that look like Eevee evolutions Espeon and Umbreon. There’s even an Eevee burger with little ears!
The café doesn’t scream Pokémon in its décor choices, but that’s okay. The signage and ceramic Pokémon at the tables are enough to get you excited for your experience, not to mention the boatloads of merch you can buy from the café.
Contact info: Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building, 103-0027 Tokyo, Chuo City, Nihombashi, 2 Chome-11-2 | 81-3-6262-3439
13. Alcatraz ER
Once again, I’m taking things in a totally different direction, from fuzzy childhood memories to sweaty, sleepless nightmares. That’s because the next café on the list is Alcatraz ER. If you were spooked by the Vampire Café, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
What to say about this creepy establishment? Well, for one, it’s perfect for Halloween. The entire place is kept intentionally dark, with the lights either dimmed or red for a scary effect. Costumed characters like clowns and other macabre specters linger behind cages or bars for photo ops. There’s a blood infusion cocktail to drink when you get thirsty. You can pay 890 yen to see a nurse take what looks like real blood and then serve it to you through an IV tube. Well, it’s in a glass, but still.
You can even get beverages with a vibrator in the glass, so yes, this isn’t a kid-friendly place at all. If the blood-splattered menu or décor didn’t tell you as much, then the sex toy certainly should. That said, if you want a heart-pounding good experience in Tokyo and you’re ready for some thrills and chills, you know where to go.
Contact info: 150-0043 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Dogenzaka, 2-13-5 | 81-3-3770-7100
14. Little TGV
If you’re a big fan of trains, then you’ll love Little TGV. This railroad-themed café in Akiba is dedicated to the locomotive and has some maids serving you food and drinks as well. The New Akihabara Electric Railway, of which you’ll see a lot of signage at the establishment, isn’t real. Rather, it’s a fictional part of Little TGV’s mystique.
For instance, you get a train ticket to gain entry to the bar/café, which does have a cover charge of 500 yen. All the train memorabilia is the real deal, from old blueprints and schematics to framed photos, Tokyo train maps, and so much more. The café even repurposes old train seats for their booths.
The cocktails are named after trains of yore, and some dishes even come in a ceramic serving platter that looks like the front car of a train. Tamagoyaki cars on an edible track are another really cute touch that make Little TGV an awesome place to go.
Contact info: 101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sotokanda, 3 Chome-10-5 | 81-3-3255-5223
15. 8bit Café
If you’re a gamer, then Tokyo is like heaven to you. You’ll feel right at home at the 8bit Café as well, an establishment for all things old-school video gaming. There is a cover charge of 500 yen, but once you do get in, you can stick around for hours playing games like the original Mario Kart and many others. These are the Japanese versions of these games, by the way.
Now, granted, compared to many other places on this list, the 8bit Café is small. If it gets busy, as it often does, then the space can feel admittedly cramped. During less busy times, you can take in the wealth of video game memorabilia that surrounds the café, including original handheld consoles, controllers, and other odds and ends.
When all that gaming leaves you parched and hungry, you can grab a bite to eat and some drinks. There aren’t full meals here like those you’d find at the other cafés on this list, but rather small snacks. Make sure you eat a full meal before or after you come here.
Contact info: 160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, 3 Chome-8-9 | 81-3-3358-0407
16. Godzilla’s Restaurant
Can’t get enough of the kaiju? Another spot I recommend you check out is Godzilla’s Restaurant. This establishment at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku is on its reception floor. In case you’re not familiar, that hotel has a giant Godzilla that looms over the building. Depending on if you’re a guest at the hotel and where you’re seated at the eatery, you can see the ginormous monster himself.
All the food has a Godzilla theme, as you might expect. For instance, there’s a little dessert that looks like an erupting volcano. The plate is dusted in powdered sugar save for two Godzilla footprints. Another sweet dish is a layered cake with a chocolate strip featuring Godzilla’s name as well as a whole chocolate Godzilla served alongside it.
If you’re lucky, you might hear the hotel Godzilla roar during your visit. This Shinjuku staple is Tokyo culture at its best!
Contact info: Hotel Gracery Shinjuku 8F, 1-19-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku 160-8466 | 81-3-6833-1702
17. Rokunen Yonkumi
Do you think back longingly to your days at school or wish you could have experienced what it was like to attend classes in Tokyo? You can kill two birds with one stone at Rokunen Yonkumi. This café in Shinjuku translates to “Class 4 of Grade 6.”
Yep, that means it’s back to school for you! That’s the theme of this establishment, the simplicity of being a student again. The entire café looks like a Japanese classroom, complete with bright artwork on the walls, a chalkboard with hand-drawn scribbles, and wooden desks with equally rickety chairs.
One thing this place has that your school never did? Cocktails! These come in science beakers, and you can even add Pop Rocks to some concoctions to see what happens. You know, for science.
Contact info: 6nen 4kumi Shibuya, 32 Udagawacho, Shibuya City, Tokyo | 03-5292-0640
18. One Piece Café
Appropriately enough, you can find the One Piece Café in Tokyo One Piece Tower. This indoor theme park, which has been around since 2015, honors the anime called One Piece. That long-running manga and anime is about a boy named Monkey D. Luffy who consumes a Devil Fruit and can become like rubber. He has a team called the Straw Hat Pirates as well.
You’re already spending your day drinking in all things One Piece, so you might as well do so literally at the One Piece Café. The menu has foods themed to all the characters, such as Perhona’s Princess Bacon Cheeseburger or Luffy’s Favorite Beef Pizza. Save room for dessert with items like Sabo’s Chocolate Mint Sundae, Trafalgar Law’s No-Bake Cheesecake, and Corazon’s Pumpkin Mont Blanc.
Oh yeah, and there’s a wealth of cocktails, too, and not all are alcoholic. These include Luffy’s My Juice with strawberry syrup, lemon, and pineapple jelly. Brook’s Cookie & Cream Latte has no booze and is quite decadent. If you want alcohol, try the pirate wine with crushed ice or the pirate highball.
Contact info: One Piece Tower Tokyo, 4 Chome 2-8 Shibakoen, Minato City, Tokyo | 81-3-5777-530
19. Totoro Cream Puff Café
Within the precious Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory hides the Totoro Cream Puff Café. Yes, it’s named after the famous My Neighbor Totoro character. Outside of all the busyness of Tokyo, the Totoro Cream Puff Café will certainly put a smile on your face!
To get there, you have to venture to Setagaya City to Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory. This takes you about 20 minutes by subway if you go to the Setagaya-Daita station and get on at the Odakyu Line. You’ll know you made it to the right place if you’re greeted by Totoro signs, plushes, and other merch.
The sit-down café has savory meals like four mushroom and pancetta pasta, but the star of the show is undoubtedly the cream puffs shaped like Totoro himself. You can select from such cream puff flavors as cream cheese, raspberry, chestnut, chocolate, and custard and cream.
Contact info: Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory, 5 Chome-3-1 Daita, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155-0033 | 81-3-5787-6221
20. Doraemon Café
The Fujiko F. Fujio Museum also goes by the name the Doraemon Museum. Fujio, which really consists of the team of Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto, created Doraemon. He’s a robot cat who teams up with a boy. Doraemon has existed since the 1970s and is a very popular pop culture figure in Japan.
The Doraemon Café on the grounds of the museum will fill up your stomach and continue the sense of whimsy of your day. Besides the full-sized ceramic statues of Doraemon all over the eatery, the café also serves food like crème brulee with Doraemon on it. He’s even on the napkins!
Other must-have eats are the lattes with Doraemon’s face and the dessert with Doraemon pancakes, green tee ice cream, sky-high whipped cream, and powdered sugar with syrup. That ought to get your stomach rumbling.
Contact info: Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, 2-Chome 8-1 Nagao, Tama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, 214-0023 | 81-570-055-245
21. Straw Hat Café
Before, we talked about the Totoro Cream Puff Café, but that’s not the only eatery in which you can see Totoro. There’s also the Straw Hat Café or the Ghibli Museum Café, which is of course located at the Ghibli Museum.
You don’t even have to be a fan of Studio Ghibli to have a fun time at this café. If you’re a foodie, you’re going to love it. That’s because there’s a variety of dining options at the Straw Hat Café. You’ve got vanilla soft serve ice cream in a tall cone, sandwiches, pasta with rich, chunky sauce, and then cake, salad, and cocktails.
The latte art is worth seeing, and you can even sample dishes made famous in Studio Ghibli films if you’re still feeling hungry. From Howl’s Moving Castle, there’s the famous fried bacon and eggs. You can nosh on the same rice balls as seen in Spirited Away as well.
Contact info: Inokashira-Koen, 181-0013 Tokyo, Mitaka, Shimorenjaku, 1 Chome-1-83 | 81-422-40-2411
Conclusion
The cafés in Tokyo are anything but boring. The themed ones especially can either be tender reminders of your childhood, sugar overloads, or terrifying spots that will leave your heart pounding. No matter where your adventures in Tokyo take you, you can find a themed café to match your interests. These one-of-a-kind spots will make you fall even deeper in love with Japan. Have fun!