When I lived in Japan, one of my hobbies was going to anime cafes. Not only was it fun eating treats based on my favorite series, but they tend to come with café-specific merchandise. Sometimes leaning into the café theme, such as having characters dressed as food or in wait staff attire, and sometimes just having new art for you to sink your money into.

However, I feel like it is an opportunity often lost on those traveling to Japan. A cursory search on Google for “anime cafés” will bring up results for events long gone. Most themed cafés only exist for a few weeks. How on earth can you know when they will happen? They usually follow specific patterns – anniversaries or a new season.

Is it some series’ 10-year anniversary? Depending on its popularity, it could get a special art exhibition or a themed café. The same can be said if a new season starts. The animation company wants to promote the new season, so new merchandise and special events are likely to happen. This does not mean that cafés don’t happen randomly; they do, but it’s harder to plan your Japan trip around those sporadic events.

You might be wondering how you can know about these events. With the help of a wonderful website called Collabo Cafe and trusty Google Translate, if you cannot read Japanese. You can even use the Japanese translation of your favorite series and search for specific events related to it. (I recommend using the series’ Wikipedia page if you’re not sure where to find that.)  The link to Collabo Cafe can be found here.

There are year-round cafes, ones that remain due to their popularity, examples of which are the Kirby Café or the Pokémon Café. These spaces tend to be in high demand. As such, you’ll need to be ready to make your reservation as soon as they open for the month. It took me several attempts to manage to book the Kirby Café, so honestly, your success depends on the speed of your reservation and your party size.

So, what do you think? Do you believe you’ll try to go to a themed café in Japan?