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Do cuddle cafes actually exist?
ngl the youtube videos make it look way more romantic than it is. i walked past one in koenji once by accident, it was just a curtained booth setup with a sign saying "rest your head" or something like that in japanese. the one that still gets traffic is near takadanobaba station, it's called "hug you" and it's 1000 yen for ten minutes but you have to wear the provided pajamas lol. the whole thing is more of a nap rental than a cafe, so if you're after the aesthetic just go to a cat cafe in kichijoji instead
yeah they're def real, there's a few scattered around but mostly in akihabara and ikebukuro. mocha has a few locations that do cuddle sessions with cats and bunnies but the actual human cuddle ones are rarer. i know cat cafe mocha in ikebukuro used to have a "hug time" option but i think they stopped during covid and never brought it back. there's one called cuddle cafe in shinjuku that's still running but it's more of a "snuggle room" with a time limit, like 2000 yen for 30 minutes or something. honestly it's a bit awkward in practice, the staff are just sitting there on a mattress waiting for you to make the first move.
I think the disconnect is that "cuddle cafe" was never really a thing in English, it's a translation of "hug kissa" which is a different vibe. Those places are more like a paid nap where you lie next to a staff member in a curtained booth, not a cafe where you order a latte and get a hug. There's one in Shinjuku 3-chome that's been around for a while called Atorii, it's 2,000 yen for 30 minutes but you have to book ahead and they're strict about no touching past the shoulders. It's not romantic, it's just lonely people paying for proximity. If you're just curious, the cat cafes in Jimbocho are a better use of your time and money.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.