Themed cafes are a big part of fan culture in Japan, so whatever you’re into, there’s probably an eatery where you can consume dishes made in the image of your favourite thing. Often these cafes are pop-up and limited-time only, giving fans a few weeks or months to make the most of it before it disappears.

One particularly successful pop-up cafe is the BT21 Cafe which is coming to Japan for a 12th time this summer. These adorable characters are the result of a collaboration between Line messaging app and K-pop group BTS, and the lineup’s star power keep Army (BTS fans) coming back for more character-inspired treats.

The theme for this iteration is ‘Photo Time’, and the cafe will be appearing in three major Japanese cities, with beverages, mains, and cute desserts too!

The drinks menu really lives up to the ‘Photo Time’ theme by being particularly photogenic.

Each character has inspired one drink with colours and flavours to suit their look and personality.

There’s three main courses on the menu, a ‘Mochiko Chicken Plate’, a ‘BBQ Plate’, and a ‘Hamburg Plate’. For each one you can choose your favourite character to be represented in rice.

The characters are made to look like they’re just popping into the frame of a Polaroid for a cute nod to the cafe’s theme.

For the desserts you can also pick your character of choice to become the highlight of the dish.

There’s doughnuts, fruit sandwiches, and even a sundae made to look like a summery night pool.

The merchandise section of the cafe will be filled with adorable BT21 ‘Photo Time’ themed items.

The cafes will have two Tokyo branches, as well as one in Nagoya and one in Osaka, and they will be appearing at different times between 30th June and 19th September 2022. Check out the website for more information and full menu!


By - grape Japan editorial staff.