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.

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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.

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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