Robot Restaurant
{{Short description|Entertainment venue}}
File:Robot_Restaurant_2019a.jpg
Robot Restaurant was an entertainment venue operated by Robot Restaurant Co., Ltd. located in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo. The restaurant offered dinner with a robot show.{{cite book |last=Eyewitness |first=DK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amg4EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT72 |title=DK Eyewitness Tokyo |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-7440-5539-9 |series=Travel Guide |page=72 |access-date=2022-10-07}} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant has permanently shut down.{{cite web |last=Nagase |first=Youka |date=2022-10-06 |title=19 popular attractions in Tokyo that closed during the pandemic, including Robot Restaurant |url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/attractions/popular-attractions-in-tokyo-that-closed-during-the-pandemic |access-date=2022-10-07 |website=Time Out Tokyo}}
Overview
When it first opened in July 2012, the theme was to "enliven office workers", targeting office workers in Shinjuku with a show featuring female dancers in extreme costumes and robots.{{cite book |last=Sone |first=Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4szBDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |title=Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination, and Modernity |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-52527-7 |page=132 |access-date=2022-10-07}} Hollywood film directors Tim Burton, J.J. Abrams, and Guillermo del Torro have visited the location.
From there, word-of-mouth spread on social media, leading to an increase in the number of foreign tourists. They subsequently shifted their target audience to foreign tourists, and also had shows that include many elements of Japanese culture. In addition, the mascot character "Roboko" was permanently installed at the storefront as an advertising tower.{{cite web | title=Roboko: Shinjuku Kabukicho Robot Restaurant gets its own mascot character | website=Japan Trends | date=2014-09-03 | url=https://www.japantrends.com/roboko-shinjuku-kabukicho-robot-restaurant-mascot-yuru-kyara/ | access-date=2022-10-07}}
References
{{commonscategory|Robot Restaurant}}
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External links
- [https://shinjuku-robot.com/pc/ Official website]
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{{Restaurants in Tokyo}}
Category:Defunct restaurants in Japan
Category:Science fiction-themed restaurants