Robot Restaurant - Tokyo Dragon
Photo: Time Out Tokyo

Where to meet robots in Tokyo

From fighting beasts to mechanical baristas and a visitor guide android, these robots walk among us here in the high tech city of Tokyo. By Shiori Kotaki and Tabea Greuner

Written by
Time Out Tokyo Editors
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Tokyo is the most populous city in the world. Apart from people and characters such as Hello Kitty, Godzilla and Hachiko, the city also counts robots as one of its citizens. These cyborgs are a functioning member of the society, too: some work at information desks, others in café, and more put on daily shows at the Robot Restaurant. Don't leave Tokyo without meeting any one (or all) of these technological wonders.

Go say hello

Henn na Café
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Shibuya

Fancy getting your coffee made by a robot barista? Cartoon-eyed Sawyer will greet you at the till while another robot named Poursteady will prepare your cup of coffee, although you’ll probably be too busy taking photos on your smartphone to notice.

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Aqua City Odaiba Tourist Information Center
  • Travel
  • Tourist Information Centre
  • Odaiba

Female android Chihira Junco has a knack for learning languages. She’s fluent in Japanese, English and Chinese – and she loves nothing more than providing tourist information with creepily realistic gestures.

DiverCity Tokyo Plaza's Unicorn Gundam
  • Shopping
  • Odaiba

This full-scale Unicorn Gundam replica (also known as RX-78-2 among anime geeks) is located outside the DiverCity Tokyo Plaza shopping mall. It stands at a staggering height of 19.7 metres – and the best part is, it changes its appearance several times a day. Witness the Unicorn Gundam go into its battle mode daily at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. There are evening shows too, complete with light effects and music soundtrack, every 30 minutes from 7pm to 9.30pm daily.

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  • Things to do
  • Shinjuku

This is a bizzare, over the top yet exhilarating show featuring robots and mechanical monsters of all shapes and sizes. Expect giant metal dinosaurs in battle, enormous female cyborgs, larger than life sushi boat floats, flashing daruma dolls fitted with drum sets, and more. Remember to pick your jaw off the floor before you leave.

Henn Na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay
  • Hotels
  • Chain hotels
  • Chiba

No amount of android affinity can prepare you for Henn na Hotel (meaning 'strange hotel' in Japanese) in Maihama, staffed by variety of robots. There's a small handful of human staff on standby too, ready to intervene in case the bots decide to take over the world. Yes, those velociraptors you see wearing a lobby boy hat are actually the resident concierges.

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  • Classes and workshops

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  • Zoos and aquariums

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