9 best pop culture and character cafés in Tokyo

In conjunction with Tokyo’s on-going ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ stage production, the premises around Akasaka ACT Theatre was turned into a Harry Potter plaza. Along with themed decorations, the area is also home to a Harry Potter café, featuring plenty of Instagram-worthy dishes and desserts inspired by the Wizarding World. 

The menu offers four kinds of cheese toasties, each representing a Hogwarts house: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each sandwich has a different filling, such as pork and onion for Gryffindor and smoked salmon and avocado for Slytherin. Each order comes with soup and pickles on the side.

From Hello Kitty and Pochacco to Gudetama and My Melody, this character café is stocked with cute dishes featuring your favourite Sanrio characters, available for eat-in and takeaway. 

Here you can order hamburgers with your choice of character imprinted on the bun. They come with either beef with BBQ or Mexican sauce or a special shrimp patty. As for desserts, you can’t go wrong with the adorable and fluffy soufflé pancakes featuring Hello Kitty, Kuromi, Pompompurin or Cinnamoroll. The cute factor continues in the drinks menu: coffee is topped with colourful latte art while cream sodas come complete with ice cream shaped as your favourite characters.

The epicentre for all Pokémon fans out there, this venue hosts the very first Pokémon Café, where you can enjoy food and drinks inspired by Pikachu and friends. The café often features special themed menus, like Detective Pikachu offerings based on the Hollywood flick and seasonal plates such as sakura Pikachu come spring. Don't forget to stop by the adjoining Pokémon Center on your way out to shop for your favourite Pokémon merchandise and souvenirs.

Located next to the Snoopy Museum in Machida, this adorable café lets you savour a picnic-style meal with finger food served in picnic baskets, cast-iron pizzas, fresh salads and other outdoor-appropriate dishes. Thanks to large windows, the room is filled with lots of warm light and provides great views of the surrounding greenery, making it feel like you're actually sitting outside. A massive red frame in the shape of Snoopy's doghouse stretches over one part of the café.

If your love for Sanrio characters extends past Hello Kitty, you'd definitely want to check out the Pompompurin Cafe in Harajuku, a cutesy yellow space adorned with your favourite pudding-inspired golden retreiver. The café offers multilingual menus (including Chinese and English) to make it easier for you to order the popular pudding-shaped desserts and Pompompurin-themed curries and roast beef bowls. Don't forget to stop by the merchandise zone on your way out as the café carries items limited to this store. 

Enter the storybook world of Beatrix Potter at this Jiyugaoka café, where you can sip tea and dine with Peter Rabbit and his friends. Complete with a terrace and souvenir shop, this charming café lets you spend the afternoon reminiscing on one of your favourite childhood stories. Order from the British-inspired menu, which offers a delightful afternoon tea set, cottage pie and beef stew, among others. There's also a colourful assortment of desserts including French toasts, parfaits and cakes. Here with children? No problem; just ask for the kids' menu.

Styled on Totoro – the beloved character from the Studio Ghibli movie ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ – these charming choux cream pastries are come in seasonal flavours, which range from strawberry to peach and chocolate. It’s almost painful cutting into these cuties as they really do look too good to eat. You can cop these guys from an easy ¥600 a piece.

Sanrio's squishy Cinnamoroll has proven popular enough to warrant its own café, which opened on the ground floor of Shinjuku's Marui Annex. In addition to its earthy and wood-heavy interior, the café wows fans with very kawaii edibles such as the Oyasumi Omu Rice, Cinnamon no Mogumogu Salad Plate and Cinnamon Special Shortcake. You'll also get to know Cinnamoroll's lesser-known family and friends in the shape of portraits and limited-edition merchandise.

Travel down the rabbit hole into the world of 'Alice in Wonderland' at this fantastical restaurant in Shinjuku. There are a number of Alice restaurants in Tokyo and even one in Osaka, which says a lot about its popularity here in Japan.

With its outlandish décor and fun menu, the restaurant feels like an escape into Lewis Carroll's trippy imagination. Try copping a table under the heart chandelier while you pick from a menu of colourful drinks and food options that range from pasta to fish and chips. If you've always wondered what it's like to be invited to Mad Hatter's tea party, this is the closest you'll ever get.