Themed cafes are a “must-see” in Japan. The very first one I went to was a 80’s video game cafe in Shinjuku named 8bit Cafe.

How to get there (since it’s not easy at all)

The first challenger was finding this place- it’s really well hidden and I was wandering around for half an hour (smartphone with navigation in hand) trying to find the place. After a long walk in the rain I found it- it’s just next to the C5 exit from Shinjukusanchome Subway Station.

Here's a helpful movie with the area around the entrance to cafe:





Next challenge was finding the cafe when it’s open- because I haven’t thought about checking opening hours I was very surprised to find out that it’s opening at 7pm and is closed on Tuesdays. So check before going!

That's the only clue at the front door





What to do inside?

After figuring out where and when to go, the rest is pretty easy. Cafe is located (like most themed cafes I’ve been to) in a small flat. There’s only one room available, with four tables and a few seats by the counter and a lot of old games. And I mean really A LOT. They are everywhere- on the shelves, on the tables, on the counter and between chairs. Most of them are still functioning so guests can spend time playing Mario Cart or some Game Boy or Family Computer games- there’s a whole collection of them. All of them are available for use at any time. There’s a queue to Mario Cart though (can't say that I'm surprised with that).





It's all about games.





There are some grand rules in this place- not many of them, and they are all listed in English in “instruction manual” section of the menu. Here’s what it says:

There’s a cover charge of 500 yen

1 drink must be ordered every 1.5 hour

Photography is allowed but without flash or video

It’s encouraged to share a table (it’s a really small place)

Sleeping is forbidden.

Not bad right? After getting in and paying the cover fee me and my friend had to sit by the counter (no free tables available) so we’ve ordered our drinks. The menu itself is an interesting thing- each drink’s name is a reference to some game. There’s Dr. Mario (which looks really cool), Princess Peach Temptation, Puyo Pyuo, Battle Master Lv 99 and many others- each with ingredients listed next to the name.

Drink's menu

Jojo's Posing drink

The staff is really nice and friendly, so we had a pleasant chat while sitting next to the bar. It's really easy to feel comfortable in this place! After a while we were able to move to the actual table- with the game installed inside it, just next to the Mario Cart console. After playing a while we had to switch tables again- apparently this is a normal thing there- so that everyone can see everything. While at first it might seem strange, it actualy gave us opportunity to experience more of the things this place has to offer.

It's a small place, but it's full of things!

What I really enjoyed (besides playing old games, of course) was a sketchbook corner. There’s a lot of notebooks stuffed everywhere around the place, each of them full of sketches made by previous visitors. There were drawings, simple schemes, letters and short messages, all of them really interesting.

Just a few things from Sketchbook

After a while of digging, we managed to find the “present” Sketchbook- the one with empty sheets on which we could add something too.

Aren't we pretty? (Sketch by my friend)

Crucial information:

website

opening hours: 7pm-2am, Friday and Saturday 7pm-5am, closed on Tuesday.

cover charge: 500 yen, mandatory drink every 1.5 hour

drinks prices: 600-900 yen

soft drink prices: 500-600 yen

snacks prices: 500- 4000 yen (most for 500 or 1300 yen)

dessert prices: 500 yen

Classic



