Japan’s first ‘cuddle cafe’ lets you sleep with a stranger for Y6,000 an hour
By Steven Simonitch
TOKYO — Sometimes, after a long, stressful day, there’s nothing more comforting than crawling into bed with your significant other and falling asleep in their arms.But what if you don’t have anyone to cuddle with in the first place? If you’re in Japan, you might think to go to a soapland or some other kind of brothel, but then you’d have to deal with all that sex when you really just want to close your eyes and rest in the warmth of another’s body.
But wait! Before you resign yourself to another lonely night of shedding tears on your Rei Ayanami dakimakura, why not stop by Soineya, Japan’s first “co-sleeping specialty shop,” where customers can pay to sleep in the arms of a beautiful girl—with no strings attached.Soineya (literally, “sleep together shop”) opened its doors on Sept 25 in none other than Akihabara, Tokyo’s electronics district, hub of otaku culture and birthplace of other eccentric establishments like maid cafés. Soineya defines itself as a “co-sleeping specialty shop,” which we’re going to denominate “cuddle cafe” because it has a better ring to it.
According to the homepage, Soineya hopes to offer patrons “the simple and ultimate comfort of sleeping together with someone.”