The Japanese Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku is one of the craziest experiences you will have in a Japan. For a country and a culture that is so polite, refined and traditional, all that kinds of flies out the window when you step into the Robot Restaurant experience.
Located in the Kabukicho red-light district, the Robot Restaurant is an eclectic one hour cabaret show with performances full of flashing lights, taiko drums and techno music.
To get the absolute best experience out of your night, it’s best to go into the show with no preconceived ideas about what you are about to experience. Try to avoid doing too much research about the show before you get there and just let the craziness consume you as it unfolds.
So to give you that amazing experience we’re not going to go into too much of a descriptive recount of what went on in the show. Honestly, you’ll want to just find that out for yourself when you get there.
Instead, we’re just going to share a few of our best tips so you can make the most out of your Robot Restaurant experience.
Get the most out of your Robot Restaurant experience by following these tips:
Make a reservation
Seats can sell out (especially during school holidays and peak travel times to Tokyo) so it’s a good idea to make a reservation.
You will also need to reconfirm your reservation via phone or it might be cancelled, so make sure you have access to make a phone call the afternoon of the show. If you’re staying in a hotel your concierge should be able to give you a hand.
Find a coupon
Don’t pay full price for your ticket, you can always get a discount! Many tourist brochures and pamphlets include discount coupons for the show, especially if you’re in a larger group of people.
We found a coupon that included one person for free if you were a group of three or more, perfect for us.
Check out the best places to stay in Shinjuku
Arrive early and sit in the waiting room
It might sound crazy, but the waiting room where you are seated before the show is absolutely incredible and was actually one of the best parts of the whole show.
The pre-show entertainment gives you a completely different idea about the show before it starts, with people dressed up in robot restaurants playing some live music in a room that is completely covered in lights and coloured glass.
The show is half in English and half in Japanese
Just to manage some expectations, half of the show speaks in English and the other half is spoken in Japanese.
It doesn’t really make a difference to be honest, you don’t really need to know 100% of what they’re saying to have a rough idea of what’s going on, you can understand the majority of it!
Well, as much as you can understand something insane.
Book your tickets to the Robot Restaurant HERE to secure your date
Buy food and drink coupons
Before the show you will need to by coupons to purchase food and drinks if you want any during the show. It didn’t really make sense to me and they did end up taking our cash inside as well, so if you’re confused by the whole food coupon thing, just don’t buy any and leave it for later. They will not take card payments though, so if you only have card you should by coupons!
You can walk to the Robot Restaurant from Shinjuku Station, which you can find on the JR Yamanote Line, as well as the JR Chuo Line and many of the subway lines.
Robot Restaurant || 1-7-1 Kabukicho | B2F Shinjuku
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