Hi fellow hivers and fellow members of the Architecture+Design community.
In this post I thought I’d share with you an interesting experience I recently had at a cafe. I heard about Hipopo Papa Cafe, a cafe with an aquarium toilet, from a friend just a few months ago. Just a few days ago, I was hanging out with two other friends of mine. They picked me up and drove to a restaurant in Akashi. While I had been to Akashi before, I wasn’t very familiar with some of the areas but I did remember hearing that Hipopo Papa Cafe was located there.
After having lunch and some good chat, I mentioned that I had heard about the aquarium toilet and wanted to see it. My friends mentioned that they often went there when they were much younger, that it was and still is a popular date spot and that it had been around for quite some time. I was surprised to hear that. Though I didn’t know much about it, I had (wrongly) assumed that it was a fairly new cafe. After about a fifteen or twenty minute drive (from where we were), we arrived at what was far more famous than I knew, Hipopo Papa Cafe. They were several things about the design, location and the cafe itself, that grabbed my interest.
Sign by the parking lot
Translated version of the sign, with use of the “Google Translate” App.
“Japan’s first aquarium toilet” stood out.
Front view and entrance of the cafe.
The Cafe
I felt a bit excited to get in. The first thing I noticed was the color of the cafe. The delicate green created a sense of calm. The fauna that greeted us outside, gave a tropical vibe.
We were seated and had a clear, lovely and stunning view of the ocean. It was an ideal location to relax with friends and I could imagine partners having a relaxing time there as well.
On a table were some lovely pink flowers. There were other seats (without a view of the ocean) and there was a set of spiral stairs that seemed to have led to another floor.
Before placing our drink orders, we looked out at mild waves crashing by the shore. We saw a few people walking along the beach and a few swans swimming. Though a winter day, it was a bit warmer than usual. It was beautiful. I thought the layout of the seating created awesome views for customers.
The Aquarium Toilet
While we waited for our drinks to arrive, my friends told me to go use the restroom. Yes, I wanted to go and yes, I wanted to see it. I opened the door and closed it behind me (as a sign on the door advised users to do). The path leading to the face basin was quite spacious and had some interesting furniture made from solid wood. I took some photos of them.
First door leading to the aquarium toilet.
To my right was another door. From outside, I could see the reflection of water. I pushed the button to the sliding door. As the door slowly opened, I could see different kinds of fish and the renown aquarium toilet. I initially froze and then slowly made my way in. It seemed cool and made me wonder how exactly they constructed it. What a unique design!
Somehow I also felt uncomfortable and slightly scared. With all those fish and fish eyes moving around, my clothes certainly remained in place. I wasn’t sure about the intellect of the fish and how they’d react to whatever they saw. It just felt like “someone was watching”.
“Hold up!”, I said to my pee.
“Don’t move! You ain’t going here”.
The glass of the aquarium wasn’t very clear at the time but I managed to get a few shots.
Second door leading to the aquarium toilet.
Aquarium toilet
The “roof” of the toilet aquarium.
I wanted to meet the owner to ask the reason behind the concept. I also wondered why only the female restroom had an aquarium. I searched for it (the cafe) online and that’s when I realized that it was a very popular attraction. For my Japanese friends, it was a cafe they had been to so many times when they were much younger. They just needed a drink and more chat time. Haha!
You can read more about Hipopo Papa Cafe by clicking the links below:
https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/13856899
https://www.odditycentral.com/travel/japans-famous-aquarium-toilet.html
Do you think you’d be comfortable to use an aquarium toilet? What are your thoughts on it?
Please comment below.
Our cold drinks came with cookies and then we were given warm cups of tea. We had a good time. Thank you for reading my post. Have a lovely weekend and a great week ahead. 😃
