We traveled to the heart of the Harajuku Goth-Loli beast, Kawaii Monster Cafe, and survived without losing our minds.
The Cafe
Kawaii Monster Cafe’s atmosphere is anything but boring. Bright colors everywhere dominated by huge sculpted figures of rabbits, mushrooms, and cake. Think Alice in Wonderland meets Gothic fashion mixed with a heavy dose of rainbows and unicorns.
The Show
We went to the Monster Cafe during the Club Nightmare event. This was a Halloween-themed event where many of the customers dressed up for a sort of costume competition. This also meant some special guests were in attendance such as Sebastian Masuda, the artist behind Kawaii Monster Cafe, and Jonte Moaning, artist and choreographer (best known for Beyonce’s 2007 world tour).
The first act of the show was a mermaid – a mermaid that liked to dance on a strip pole. Did I mention this show was adult-themed (no nudity, but very adult still)?
Afterwards, more dancers joined the mermaid on stage to continue the wild ride. Honestly, the best way to understand would be to just watch and see for yourself. Enjoy the show!
Conclusion
As crazy and unique Kawaii Monster Cafe was, it was also a ton of fun. It would be difficult to find anything remotely like it outside of Harajuku. And that is, what I find at least, to be one of the most amazing things in Tokyo – you have little pockets of sub-cultures that REALLY buy in. Whether it is the Otaku culture displayed in Akihabara or the Gothic Lolita in Harajuku, people come together to be themselves and are very bold about displaying their culture.
Kawaii Monster Cafe Website
Book tickets here on Voyagin
Kawaii Monster Cafe – YM square building 4F, 4-31-10, Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo