When you want some coffee but also want to enter another world.

Japan has plenty of exclusive restaurants and ryokan, traditional Japanese inns. There’s Kabuto, the eel restaurant in Tokyo that has a six-month waiting list for reservations. There’s Tomaya, the ryokan in Iwate Prefecture that only accepts reservations by postcard.

And there’s also ANGEL LIBRARY, a cafe in the Gion District of Kyoto, that is so exclusive you need a special code to even get inside.

ANGEL LIBRARY was recently brought to the attention of the Japanese internet by @probotprobot who posted this about their visit: (translation and pictures below)

“There’s a cafe I want to go to next time I go to Kyoto! It’s a secret cafe underneath CACAO MARKET in Gion. You tell a staff member that you want to use the cafe, and then they will hand you a secret code. You have to go around to the back to a door behind the building and put in the code, then when you go downstairs….”

▼ So just to recap, this is not a photo of the cafe. It’s merely a distraction

to keep the masses away from the hidden ANGEL LIBRARY.

▼ After being given a code, which changes every day,

you go around back to a very magical-looking door.

▼ And then you descend a very ominous staircase to find…

▼ …the cafe hidden underneath!

From looking at other photos, ANGEL LIBRARY seems to live up to its name. The decor is made up of books, shelves, angel paintings, and other angel-related memorabilia.

▼ Some pictures of ANGEL CAFE that make it feel like

you’ve just discovered a hidden library inside a mansion.

▼ The downright holy-looking warning not to bump your head

on the low ceiling, and a few angels that decorate the interior.

▼ Even the secret code you’re given to access the cafe

is printed on mysterious-looking paper with a key.

If you’ve ever wanted that feeling like you’re going into a hidden-away world, like in Alice in Wonderland or Narnia, but you’re short on magical rabbit holes and wardrobes, then ANGEL LIBRARY seems like an excellent alternative.

And at least the secret code to get in is a lot easier to get than other places like Ataraxia Cafe, where you have to pass an otaku test to even get inside.

Cafe information

ANGEL LIBRARY

Address: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Tokiwacho 165-2

京都府 京都市東山区 常盤町 165-2 B1F

Open 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Closed Tuesdays

Source: Twitter/@probotprobot via Togech

Images: Twitter/@probotprobot