We had planned our trip to Japan/South Korea about a year before going (2015). When you think of a year you might think it’s a long time, but it went by flying and now it’s almost been a year since our trip (we went early April 2016)! It’s crazy! I actually really liked that I had a year to plan our trip because I truly had fun doing it. I’ve never actually had an itinerary for any of my trips, we just kind of picked spots we were interested in visiting and would just go with the flow, but for our Japan trip, I went above and beyond. I wanted it to be perfect and most of all I wanted to make sure we would go to ALL the themed cafes that were available at the time.
I was a bit upset when I found out the Sailor Moon cafe was going to open the day I left Japan! My favorite anime since I was a kid was Sailor Moon and I had heard that in the past they would open pop-up cafes with a Sailor Moon theme and it’d be in early April everytime and for a limited time. I also learned that Starbuck’s famous cherry blossom flavored items would come out earlier than expected that year, so I was extremely sad about that as well because I didn’t know if I’d ever visit Japan again. When I went to South Korea though they still had it available so I actually got to enjoy Starbuck’s yummy cherry blossom flavored mocha.
The first cafe I went to was the Alice in Wonderland cafe. There are several Alice in Wonderland cafes in Tokyo, but this one was the one I chose because of the queen of hearts theme. I felt like I was in a dream!
I will be putting the address for the places in English as well as in Japanese. Hubby and I found it much easier to give a taxi driver the address in Japanese. It’s a struggle when it’s in English.
Alice in Magical Land, Nishi-Shinjuku
Address: Shinjuku Nishiguchi Huluku B3, 1-5-1 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Address in Japanese: 〒160-0023 東京都新宿区西新宿1-5-1 新宿西口ハルクB3
Access: JR Shinjuku Station Central West Exit a 1-minute walk
The 2nd cafe was the Little Twin Stars cafe. We actually didn’t even know that this cafe was going to be opened. It was a collaboration between Little Twin Stars characters Kiki & Lala and Nicolas House and would be opened for a limited time. We were walking around Harajuku and when I saw it I immediately wanted to eat there. We had passed by other cute cafes before finding this one but needed a reservation, so we were surprised when we were able to get a table. It was so cute! There is no address for this one as it was a pop-up cafe that was opened for a limited time.
We had lots of fun at a Maid Cafe we went to in Akihabara Electric Town (a shopping district for video games, anime, manga and all electronics, hence why they call it “Electric Town”). We felt like it’s something you have to do there. Depending on what you choose to eat they’ll ask you what you want “drawn” on your food and they’ll “draw” it on your plate with ketchup or something. Beware, they will make you chant/sing cute things and after your meal, they might take you to their stage and take cute pictures with bunny ears (I don’t remember, but probably for an extra charge)! I’m warning you just in case you’re not ok with that lol.
Maidreamin Akihabara Electric Town-Exit Store
Address: Takarada Chuo-dori Building 3F, 1-14-1 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021
Address in Japanese: 〒101-0021 東京都千代田区外神田1-14-1 宝田中央通りビル3F
Access: 1 minute on foot from JR “Akihabara” station (electric town mouth)
Tokyo Metro Ginza line “Suehiro cho” station 7 minutes on foot
We also went to the Robot Restaurant (you do need a reservation for this one btw) in Shinjuku and really liked the show. The food wasn’t great, so that’s why I don’t have any pictures of it. I don’t have any pictures of the show either because I mostly took video, so here are 2 pictures that look decent enough (sorry no awesome robot pictures either, just took video *sigh*) lol. We did love the sake my husband ordered here. It turned out to be our favorite, but when we wanted to buy some at the airport they didn’t have the brand :(. It’s called Sho Chiku Bai Mio Sparkling Sake.
Address: 1-7-1 Kabukicho Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, Japan
Address in Japanese:東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-7-1新宿ロボットビルB2F
Access: JR Yamanote Line Shinjuku Station 5 minutes on foot from east exit
Tokyo Metro Line Shinjuku Sanchome Station 5 minutes on foot from Exit B9
Some friends we met along the way recommended the Final Fantasy Eorzea cafe near Akihabara. We didn’t even know there was one and thanks to them we were able to go and check it out! It was awesome and the food not only looked cool but was really good. They also have a few computers where you can play Final Fantasy. The restrooms are really fancy here btw! So many BUTTONS! :O lol
Address:1-1-10 Kanjinka Chiyoda-ku , Tokyo Pasera Resorts AKIBA Multi-entertainment 2F
Address in Japanese: 東京都千代田区外神田1-1-10パセラリゾーツAKIBAマルチエンターテインメント 2F
Click here and it will take you to a page with different ways to access the cafe and even shows pictures so you can easily get to the cafe from whatever station you’re at. It is in Japanese so just make sure you translate it to your preferred language.
I really enjoyed all of the cafes I visited and can assure you we will be going back to visit more! Hopefully I’ll get to visit the Sailor Moon one next time! 🙂 Let me know in the comments or by email if you have any questions!
-Daylin
DD Food & Travel 
That looks amazing! I hope I can visit Japan one day 🙂 In the Eorzea cafe, what are the coloured materia balls made of in the materia drink?
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It was! I’m sure you’ll get to go soon! It really is an amazing trip which anyone would love. My husband was the one who ordered drinks that day, so although I thought they looked like colored ice balls he says they were jelly like. Maybe jello balls? Either way it was such a cool drink!
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Cook! 🙂
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