Robot Restaurant in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo

Deranged Scenes From a Japanese Robot Restaurant

Deranged Scenes From a Japanese Robot Restaurant

Atlas Obscura
Your Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders
June 26 2014 2:40 PM

Attack of the Neon Fembots at Robot Restaurant in Tokyo

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The bento boxes at Robot Restaurant are pretty ordinary, but you don't go there for the food. You go there to watch bikini-clad go-go dancers drive giant neon fembots as a techno soundtrack blasts away.

Robot Restaurant, located in the mammoth pinball machine that is the Kabukocho district of Shinjuku, Tokyo, is not so much an eatery as a frenetic, flashing fever dream.

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When you arrive and check in—bookings are highly recommended, for this place is popular—you will be guided into a gold-and-glitter lined bar, where you can take a seat, have a drink, and play with the adorable robot dinosaur at your table. A trio of humans dressed in silver will entertain you with live music. After a moment to catch your breath, you'll head downstairs for an hour or so of fast-moving, technicolored action.

The show, which is periodically interrupted with entreaties to purchase beer and snacks, involves a parade of robots equipped with flashing lights and formidable dance moves. Some are all-metallic and resemble the Centurion Cylons of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Others are built to resemble giant warrior women with huge breasts. All parade down the central dance floor, fighting and gyrating in time to the blasting music. (If you thought you'd heard the last of Gangnam Style, grit your teeth and get ready to hear it again in all its remixed glory.)

The giant fembots are driven by human women, who wear bikinis and assume a variety of roles during the show, including drummer, dancer, and cultivator of crowd hype. A climactic battle scene involves the women fighting evil robots. Guess who emerges as the ultimate victor.

Here is but a taste of the manic action:

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Ella Morton is a writer working on The Atlas Obscura, a book about global wonders, curiosities, and esoterica adapted from Atlas Obscura. Follow her on Twitter.