Breaking
By Beverly Ngai
20 January 2022
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Header Image Courtesy of Moshi Moshi Nippon
Since the 1960s, Sanrio has been fascinating kids all over the world with its impressive range of lovable and adorable characters. This cutesy empire all started with the birth of Hello Kitty, who has remained the most well-known and successful character of all times. Over the past 80 years, Sanrio has created and introduced over 400 characters, which include My Melody and Little Twin Stars in the 1970s, Keroppi and Pochacco in the 1980s, Pekkle and Bad Badtz-Maru in the 1990s, Cinnamoroll and Kuromi in the 2000s, and Gudetama in the 2010s. If you are a die-hard Sanrio fan, here’s some information we have compiled on the permanent Sanrio cafés that you can visit in Tokyo!
Located just a short walk from Shinjuku station, Cinnamoroll Café is a convenient location where you can enjoy a relaxing time with one of Sanrio’s most popular and cutest characters. The café serves a range of super adorable and colourful Cinnamoroll-themed food, drinks, and desserts, such as omelette rice, beef stroganoff, coffee, and shortcake. It also has a seasonal menu that is available during the summer, Halloween, and Christmas. In addition, Cinnamoroll Café offers a great collection of limited-edition souvenirs, such as tote bags, cardholders, and phone cases, so don’t forget to take a look before leaving.
Cinnamoroll Café, 1/F, Shinjuku Marui Annex, 3-1-26 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo| (+81) 03 6380 1175
Pompompurin Café is a permanent café in Harajuku that features the laidback Golden Retriever Sanrio introduced in 1996. Decorated in Pompompurin’s classic yellow and brown, the cafe is perfect for taking selfies with your favourite Sanrio character and has plenty of super cute food, desserts, and drinks available that give you further photo opportunities. And of course, the café has a shop that sells various Pompompurin merchandises. Aside from Harajuku, Pompompurin Café has three other branches in Osaka, Yokohama, and Nagoya, and each branch offers a special menu of its own.
Pompompurin Café, 3/F, Cute Cube Harajuku, 1-7-1 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo | (+81) 03 5786 0770
Opening its doors in the summer of 2020, Sanrio Café Ikebukuro Store is the newest addition to the series of Sanrio character cafés in Tokyo. It is a directly-operated and permanent café that offers both dine-in and takeaway. The café provides a calming and clean-cut environment and food and beverages that feature popular Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Gudetama, and Keroppi. The main items on the menu include hamburgers, pancakes, coffee, and smoothies with the drinks coming with a free coaster. As for the takeaway section, the counter is styled like a wagon and you can order snacks such as donuts, daifuku, and ice cream. In addition, you can purchase Sanrio merchandises that include tote bags and key chains.
Sanrio Café Ikebukuro, B1/F, Sunshine City Alpha, Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo | (+81) 03 5985 5600
There used to be a Café de Miki with Hello Kitty in Odabai that served delicious food like scones and parfait, but unfortunately, it has been closed due to unknown reasons… While there is only a limited number of permanent Sanrio character cafés left in Tokyo, there are plenty of pop-up and crossover cafés that happen from time to time, so keep your eyes open when you are planning for a trip to Tokyo and you might have the chance to dine with other classic Sanrio characters, such as Little Twin Stars, Gudetama, and My Melody etc.
With over 10+ years of experience in various media industries, Nicole is an avid traveller who is making big plans to show Ewok (her 10-year-old parti-coloured poodle) the world.
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