Located in Harajuku is cafe STUDIO, a cafe located at the YM SQUARE building next door to Tokyu Plaza. (Note: Same location as Harajuku Kawaii Monster, but on the first floor towards the rear)
But the attraction of this location is its large space which can fit up to 200 people, it’s a 2-minute walk from Meiji Jingumae, across the street from Takeshita Street and a few feet from Omotesando.
And because of the location and space, it’s a space used for wedding parties, DJ events, exhibitions, fashion shows, meetings and more.
As for the “with Ploom TECH”, this is in relation to the growing popularity of vaping products in Japan and products made popular by Japan Tobacco Inc. The tables have signs “NO SMOKING, Ploom TECH ONLY” and they sell Ploom TECH products.
But when I went to Cafe STUDIO, it was on a Friday night and if there is a meetup going on, the place is incredibly packed.
The cafe turns into a social hub where one can meet with others and it’s quite obvious, many guys attend in hopes to hook up.
The thing is that one should know, it can get crowded and packed and the ratio can be 90% guys and 10% women, some Fridays, you may be lucky if it’s 70/30 or 60/40.
Getting beer or drinks is not difficult. I didn’t really see anyone eating but I do know they served food. Problem is with so many people on Friday night, moving around is not easy. Best to just get a drink or something small, in which you can stand and eat.
As for the social aspect at Cafe STUDIO… Personally for me, I’m not really into social events where you see too many guys hovering like hawks towards women and everyone trying to get a woman’s attention.
I tend to not have to do much to get one’s attention nor do I have to be aggressive. I was explaining to several guys who often see me at social events in Tokyo who asked of why each time they see me, I have women often near me or talking with me.
For one, I treat them as a person that I want to meet and have a conversation with. These meetup events are primarily to make new friends. One should remember that.
I also don’t just stand around and give the shifty eyes of being that person who wishes they were being more proactive in meeting someone.
My biggest advice is to be cool. Introduce yourself. And have fun. But try to be involved when communicating and don’t behave or be so obvious that your intention is that you want to get laid. Don’t be that way. Don’t be a jerk!
Quite often, it’s not the Japanese guys but the guys from other countries who tend to be aggressive in trying to get the women to join their circle or trying to be disruptive (****-blockers).
But as I left to go to another party which I was invited to, I thought to myself… I experienced a night social event at Cafe STUDIO and some may have fun on Friday night at this location, but it’s not really for me.
But bringing back to the actual location, it’s very nice and spacious. Definitely a great place to host an event. I would also definitely eat at the location if I was in the area during the afternoon or so.
Next time I’m in Tokyo and in that area, I’ll do another blog post and focus more on the food. But when I went, it was more about the social event, so I can’t really comment on the food.
But I’ll be back with a post from Cafe STUDIO sometime in the near future.
