Most people think of the Omotesando district of Tokyo as kind of upscale and focused on fashion. That’s why I was surprised to run into Omotesando Koffee (coffee) in a back street inside an old house. From the outside, it looks like somebody’s small courtyard. There’s an entrance, a couple benches, and some shrubbery.

But right next to that is a big open room, which you can kind of see to the right. When you step in, you’re greeted by design at its finest. A Counter, a coffee machine, and a guy in a white lab coat making coffee.

Sitting outside drinking coffee in the morning was a pleasure. You’re exposed to two worlds. One is the modern design aesthetic. The other is the outdoor seating area, which felt a lot like being at a friend or relative’s house. The barista was friendly and professional, and we took our time sipping coffees. One thing I like about the seating area is that it encourages conversation. The people who drink coffee and eat (very delicious) sweets all feel like they’re in on the secret of Omotesando Coffee, so there’s that comradery. That makes it easier to strike up a conversation. We spent about fifteen minutes talking to a couple from Singapore that happened to work with a mutual friend of ours. That’s the magic of Omotesando Coffee, I guess.

As for the taste of the coffee and treats? Well, I’m no connoisseur of coffee, but I am used to drinking high quality coffee. The coffee here didn’t blow my mind but it was very good. Couple that with the atmosphere and you have yourself a good cup of coffee. The thing that was really good, though, was the canalés (the sweets). They were a bit different from other canalés I’ve seen, but very good. Their square shape went well with the overall aesthetic.

While I wouldn’t really say that you should go out of your way to come here, if you happen to be in the Omotesando area, or if you are one of those people addicted to coffee (so you’ll need to get your coffee no matter what), stop by here one morning, get some coffee, and strike up a conversation with someone.

–

RATINGS:

Uniqueness: 7/10
Feels > Taste: 7/10
Feels > Atmosphere: 7/10
Accessibility: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

(Overall rating is not based on other sub-ratings. To learn more about our rating scale, please visit our ratings page.)

ACCESS:

Website: http://ooo-koffee.com/
Address & Phone: http://ooo-koffee.com/map/

That’s a ride at Hanayashiki Amusement Park, just about a block away. Hanayashiki claims to be the oldest amusement park in Japan, having opened in 1853. Actually it was originally a “flower park” and went through a period where it had a small zoo, so its current form with rides and other attractions doesn’t go back that far. Just as well, because I don’t think I’d feel safe riding a roller coaster built in 1853. And as it stands, it’s still definitely as old-fashioned and quirky as anyone could want.

To get there from Senso-ji, just walk toward that towering ride. And don’t walk past this just because it doesn’t look like your idea of an amusement park entrance.

The entrance design is only one of many details about Hanayashiki that are uniquely Japanese in odd and cool little ways. Sure, kids love pandas everywhere, so you’ve got your panda-shaped go-carts…

But only in Japan do you appeal to kids using those huge horned beetles that are kept as pets, which are part of decorations in a few places, like the truly enormous one on this ticket booth.

There’s also a little Japanese garden with a stream and bridge in the center of the park:

And one of its trees has got some more beetles

One ride with cars in different shapes includes one that’s a tanuki (a cartoony one with a striped tail, possibly even meant to specifically be a Super Mario Bros tanuki suit?):

I discovered another particularly Japanese feature of the ride while taking that picture, or at least, an un-American one. You move those cars by pedaling and braking them, and you have complete control: there’s apparently no other technology to stop you crashing into the car in front. Something that could only exist in a country with WAY fewer lawyers.

That’s one of a number of rides on overhead tracks that are layered all over each other, weaving through the limited space. Maybe what’s most amazing about Hanayashiki. It is packed into what isn’t much more than one city block, surrounded by buildings that seem so close that you could almost touch them from some of the rides:

And you can see how close you still are to Senso-ji when you’re up on one of the rides in the air.

Check out the English map on their website to see all the other stuff that’s crammed in there, including an indoor game arcade, some haunted houses that I can’t believe I was stupid enough to miss, and a food court.

Admission is 900 yen and tickets for rides are 100 yen each. There are a few attractions like a fortune teller and some entertainers that you’ll have to pass on if you don’t speak Japanese, and I didn’t see any other Western tourists in the park when I visited, but come on, it’s an amusement park, it’s a universal language. You can do this thing. Don’t be one of the 29,999,999 tourists to Asakusa (other than me) who misses it.

All photos not credited by Linda Lombardi

–

RATING:

Uniqueness: 7/10
Feels > Nostalgia: 9/10
Feels > Satisfaction: 9/10
Accessibility: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

(Overall rating is not based on other sub-ratings. To learn more about our rating scale, please visit our ratings page.)

ACCESS:

Website: http://www.hanayashiki.net/e/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asakusahanayashiki
Address & Phone: https://www.facebook.com/asakusahanayashiki/info

Everyone has different priorities on a trip to Japan. Me – I’m all about the weird animal stuff. One time, I made a special excursion to Mie prefecture just to see a dugong in an aquarium, and the top attraction on my list for Tokyo was a store that sells pet bugs. And if you’ve read my other articles on Tofugu, you know I’m obsessed with capybaras and shops for dogs.

One unique Japanese invention is the cafe where you can have coffee and hang out with all kinds of critters. If all you know about are the cat cafes, you are way behind the times. There are now rabbit cafes, a reptile cafe in Yokohama, and several cafes in the Tokyo area devoted to birds of prey.

When I went this past fall, it seemed like a shocking omission that this was my third trip to Japan and I’d never been to one of these animal cafes. But where to start? Cat cafes are so old hat that they’re not even exclusively Japanese anymore. They’re popping up all over Europe, the first one in London is under construction, and now someone’s trying to open one in San Francisco. Boooring.

The reptile cafe was out when I discovered that the animals are just on display, not wandering around like the cats. I’ve worked as a reptile keeper, so you’ll have to do more than that to impress me. If I can’t drink my coffee with the iguana actually in my lap, no way am I going to schlepp all the way to Yokohama. And birds of prey… I’m sorry, bird lovers, but actually, I wouldn’t even cross the street to hang out with an owl.

Then I discovered the obvious answer, because it is clearly the weirdest: In Shibuya, only a short walk from the famous statue of loyal dog Hachiko, in the very heart of the city, you can go to a cafe that has two goats.

The goat cafe Sakuraoka is actually not a recent development: the goats arrived at the existing cafe in May 2010. They are two females, a brown one named Chocolat and a white one named Sakura (the obvious idea of naming her Vanilla apparently lost out to the Japanese compulsion to refer to cherry blossoms at every possible opportunity).

When my friend and I arrived mid-morning on a weekday, it turned out that while the cafe is open all day and evening, they only serve food at certain times. The disadvantage of this was that I was starving, but the advantage was clear, because there’s only one table that’s actually right next to the goats. Since there were few other customers, the table was available, and we grabbed it.

The white goat ran right up to us and stuck her head through the bars and tried to chew on my pants. It turns out this is typical, as Sakura is a known troublemaker. When a staff member came out to clean and give the goats some fresh hay to eat, she tied Sakura to one side of the pen, she told us, because otherwise she’ll eat Chocolat’s food. I later bought a book about the cafe’s goats, in which Sakura’s bio calls her “a strong-willed, slightly spoiled princess.”

I have to admit I was a little dubious about idea of a goat cafe, and I am definitely not squeamish about animals. I’ve always thought it was crazy that health laws forbid me from bringing my dogs into restaurants in the US, since my dogs are in my kitchen all the time and it’s never made me sick. But coffee next to a barnyard?

Never fear, there is nothing unappetizing about it. The goats are spotless, the pen is cleaned of the dry little droppings regularly, and there’s only the slightest hint of the perfume of a farm. And if even that’s too much for you, you can pick a table inside and look at the goats through a glass window.

If on the other hand you want to get even more up close and personal with the goats, you can make a reservation to take them for a leash walk around Shibuya. The photos of this activity make it look more like they will take you for a walk, which I guess is not surprising given the combination of “strong-willed” Sakura and Chocolat, whose bio is “Relaxed, likes to go at her own pace.”

I can’t report on the food, having not had the chance to try any, which was especially sad when I saw all the photos of enticing looking cakes on their Facebook page. I drank a mocha, but was too distracted by the goats to notice much about it.

But I didn’t miss the most important food item, the souvenir chocolates. They’re chocolate covered rum raisins, presented on a bed of hay, and the cover of the box leaves no doubt about what they are meant to be.

All photos are by the author, Linda Lombardi

–

RATING:

Uniqueness: 9/10
Feels > Amused: 9/10
Accessibility: 10/10
Omiyage: 8/10
Overall: 6/10

(Overall rating is not based on other sub-ratings. To learn more about our rating scale, please visit our ratings page.)

ACCESS:

Website: http://www.udagawacafe.com/shibuyagi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shibuyagi_sc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sakuragaoka.cafe
Address & Phone: https://www.facebook.com/sakuragaoka.cafe/page_map

Enjoy this picture of Maru while you wait.