7 Top Cute Nijigen Restaurants in Tokyo

Tokyo’s Setagaya-ku is the location of “Shirahige’s Cream Puff Shop”. Franchised by Hayao Miyazaki himself, it is the only shop in Japan that sells Totoro Puffs. Apparently it was opened by Miyazaki’s relatives, and the store is full of elements from the master’s animations.

They all look the same so how can you tell the flavor? The store tops the heads of the Totoro Puffs with meticulously designed decorations, with a small green leaf indicating a custard cream, while a hat with a blue band is chocolate, a cherry blossom is strawberry, and a dark brown leaf means marron flavor. The hat with the pink band is peach flavor.

Making Totoro puffs is an involved and time-consuming process, so daily production is limited to 100. The shop is keen on reminding you to make reservations by telephone.

Sitting alone eating in a bustling restaurant you can’t help feeling somewhat lonely and awkward. Don’t worry, Moomin will keep you company. Moomin Café is a theme café inspired by the movie “The Moomin Family”. What makes this place special is that every customer who arrives can share their meal with an adorable life-size Moomin doll to dispel the loneliness of eating alone.

The café is decorated with a Moomin Valley theme, inviting you into the Moomins’ fairy world. Here you can savor delicious bread and specialties from the Moomin’s home country, Finland. There is also a boutique next door, selling a small array of the café’s products.

In addition to the Tokyo Dome City branch, there are two more Moomin cafés in Japan: the Tobu branch in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro and the Hakata Canal City branch in Fukuoka Prefecture.

The "Polar Bear Cafe" in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, can be said to bring the popular anime "Polar Bear Cafe" to life:

The decor is almost identical to that in the manga, and the staff are all dressed like Miss Sasako. There is also rich handsome Polar Bear awaiting the honor of your visit; the Panda and the mysterious professional Penguin are frequent visitors; in an instant we see a third dimension through the nijigen, and our warp breakthrough was not a dream!

The Polar Bear Cafe may not quite match the other themed cafés in terms of food quality, but if you happen to be passing by, there’s no harm in sitting down for a not over-sweetened cup of Moka.

The Baratie “One Piece” themed restaurant is located on the 7th floor of the Fuji TV Building in Odaiba. It is modeled after Vinsmoke Sanji’s master Red Foot Zeff’s ocean-going restaurant the Balatie, in the “One Piece” series. Here you can see the cool Baratie hull, as well as statues of the main characters such as Luffy, Vinsmoke Sanji, and Tony Chopper, luring many fans to take joint selfies.

Food and drinks bursting with "nautical" elements are delicious, and every meal is introduced with a slogan, "Do you know what All Blue is?" You can even hear the voices of animated characters coming from the kitchen, making you really feel you are in the world of One Piece.

Sanrio’s "Pudding dog" in Hello Kitty also has a huge number of fans in Japan. The recently opened "Pudding Dog Café" in Harajuku Takeshita has attracted quite a crowd of pilgrims.

The restaurant interior is decorated in cute yellow, with the inevitable yellow beret-topped puppy in every corner, while a sculpture of him and his friends graces the center of the hall. Every dish is designed in the shape of Pudding dog, and different seasonal specialties are on offer.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Gundam series, the first GUNDAM Cafe with the theme of Mobile Suit Gundam was officially opened in Akihabara, the geek mecca, in 2019. Ever since its opening, there has been an endless stream of devoted fans making the pilgrimage.

The café’s exterior flaunts Gundam’s head’s signature V motif, and a very futuristic black-and-white color scheme; besides the Gundam World anniversary theme, there is also a 1:12 scale model of RX-78 inside.

The menu is choc-a-bloc with even more Gundam elements, including Gundam, Mecha Doughnuts, Weakling Pancakes; and to top it all, the waiters here wear the full Death Army uniform, so you can take the obligatory selfie with each one. The café turns into a bar after 17:00.