{"id":11,"date":"2015-10-21T02:23:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T02:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/?p=11"},"modified":"2020-05-26T09:23:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T09:23:29","slug":"where-you-dont-go-for-the-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/21\/where-you-dont-go-for-the-food\/","title":{"rendered":"You Don’t Go for the Food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You don\u2019t have to read katakana (\u30ed\u30dc\u30c3\u30c8\u30ec\u30b9\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3) to know you\u2019ve found the Robot Restaurant.\nAlthough it\u2019s nestled in the bright lights of Shinjuku\u2019s frenzied Kabukich\u014d entertainment\ndistrict, it doesn\u2019t exactly blend in, and actually makes the surrounding area seem\npretty calm by comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are four shows a day, the earliest starting at 4:20PM,\nand the last starting at 9:20PM. Reservations can be made online or by phone,\nand are recommended. You\u2019ll be asked to arrive at least half an hour before\nshowtime, and there\u2019s a gaudy lounge where you can relax and enjoy drinks while\nyou wait to be led to your seat in the basement. The staff at the entrance is\nfriendly and speaks English, so there shouldn\u2019t be any problems getting to the\nright place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Children are not prohibited, but I could see the dress code\nof the female staff being deemed a bit too racy for some parents, although it\u2019s\nnothing you wouldn\u2019t see on a beach\u2026well, a beach with pole dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are asked to cover any tattoos because of the\nassociation with mafia in the Japanese psyche, and not to wear sunglasses for\nthe same reason. Interestingly enough, some of the dancers have tattoos, and Kabukich\u014d\nitself is known as a hotbed of mafia activity, not that this should be of any\nconcern to anyone not looking for trouble. The price per person is \u00a56,000 for the show, and another \u00a51,000 for the\nmeal, should you opt for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the main event, the human mind can only take so much,\nand I think the length of the shows was capped at one hour more out of concern\nfor customers\u2019 long-term mental health than for either profit maximization or\nthe seemingly limitless endurance of the staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are many different acts to the show, comprehending an\noverall storyline should be considered a medical emergency, or at least\ndisqualify you from operating heavy machinery. Classifying the whole affair as\n\u201ccabaret with robots\u201d is taking only a couple steps up Honesty Mountain. There\nare operatic ballads with robot musicians, some kind of recurring and elaborate\nfestival procession, furry creatures fighting evil\u2026things (?!) from the future,\nrobot dances, robots wars, and a couple lucky customers can even battle a robot\n(safe and rigged in your favor). It\u2019s sort of like every kind of spectacle\nwrapped into one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I find \u201crestaurant\u201d a curious choice of words to use in the\nname of this place. I had to check the definition in a dictionary for the first\ntime in my adult life to make sure the word meant what I thought it did. From\nwhat I found, I guess it is technically okay to use, as you can buy food and\ndrinks here. However, this may be the only restaurant I would recommend\nvisiting and not<\/em> eating the food. Not\nonly is the meal mediocrity perfected, but, and this was a new experience for\nme, it\u2019s quite difficult to eat when you\u2019re in a state of shock. And shock is\nwhat happens when relentless sensory bombardment makes your ears explode while\nyour eyes try not to give your brain epilepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was speechless and confused as I rehabilitated myself up\nthe stairs towards street level. My ears ringing and my mind a complete void, I\nasked myself a fair question, \u201cWhat did I just witness?\u201d I still don\u2019t know,\nbut you should see it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I would recommend a light meal beforehand, as all digestive\nfunction will be arrested for the duration of the show, at one of the small\natmospheric restaurants in Omoide Yokoch\u014d (Memory Lane). It\u2019s just to your left\nafter you walk under the train tracks from Kabukich\u014d. Afterwards, you might\nlike to calm the nerves and reevaluate everything you think you knew about the\nuniverse at one of the 200 tiny bars of nearby Golden Gai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.shinjuku-robot.com\/pc\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tel: 03-3200-5500<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don\u2019t have to read katakana (\u30ed\u30dc\u30c3\u30c8\u30ec\u30b9\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3) to know you\u2019ve found the Robot Restaurant. Although it\u2019s nestled in the bright lights of Shinjuku\u2019s frenzied Kabukich\u014d entertainment district, it doesn\u2019t exactly blend in, and actually makes the surrounding area seem pretty calm by comparison. There are four shows a day, the earliest starting at 4:20PM, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[9,11,10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovejoyphotographic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}