At Tokyo’s Moomin House Cafe, lone patrons are seated with a plush toy for company.

Article excerpts:

To save its lone customers from the awkward perils of solo dining, the cafe kindly seats diners with stuffed animal companions called Moomins, a family of white hippo-like characters created by Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson.

Moomins are brought to each table so that patrons – solo or in groups – can have a turn sitting with them. Weekday mornings are the quietest time, while weekends are packed all day long.

To honor the characters’ heritage, Moomin House Cafe serves bread made from Finnish rye, and offers food and pastries in the form of Moomin characters. Cafe staff say there have been long lines almost every day since its “lonely-friendly” concept went viral.


https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/140514111614-moomin-cafe-07.jpg

It’s a long overdue turn in the spotlight – the cafe has been open since 2003.


https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/140514111635-moomin-cafe-08.jpg

Seems a bit gimmicky from over here, but theme cafes are pretty popular there, so I guess that’s how that works. Also, I’m thinking the article may be playing up the ‘loneliness’ factor, as solo dining is evidently common in Japan, and there actually are quite a few services and cafes in which genuinely lonely people can hire others to accompany them / listen to them / etc. A stuffed BD character wouldn’t really do it for me, I guess is what I’m saying. 😅

Full article with more info and pics:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-moomin-cafe

  • MrOtingocni@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    24 days ago

    I enjoy dining alone, but if a kind person sat a Moomin across from me as a dinner companion I wouldn’t mind.

  • troglodyte_mignon@tarte.nuage-libre.frEnglish
    4·
    24 days ago

    I think I could have guessed it was in Japan even if you hadn’t written it in the title, ha ha.

    To save its lone customers from the awkward perils of solo dining, the cafe kindly seats diners with stuffed animal companions called Moomins, a family of white hippo-like characters created by Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson.

    That reminds me a bit of the teddy bears that I’ve sometimes seen sitting in cafés in Paris.

  • rbn@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    3·
    24 days ago

    Somehow I would have expected that a café that specializes on lonely clients would try to bring these people together rather than seating them next to a plushy… St least if sitting at a table alone makes them feel awkward, I’d guess they aren’t alone by choice.

    • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      3·
      24 days ago

      Again, I think the ‘loneliness’ angle is being played up by the (presumably) Western writer. From what I know of Japanese culture, they’re quite fine maintaining distance from others, even if it’s to throw up internal walls when they’re jam-packed with other people, which is common in this location (Tokyo).

      I think it’s moreso just the novelty and charm that amuses them about these specialty cafes, of which there must be dozens of varieties or more.