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Dystopia cafe? Japanese banana juice specialist is a literal hole in the wall【Photos】

Casey Baseel Sep 18, 2020
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Believe it or not, this building isn’t abandoned, it’s open for business.

On a street corner in the town of Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, there’s a building with boarded up doorways and unadorned concrete slabs for walls. If you look closely, you can make out the remnants of where the name of the previous tenant, Furuhonya Shoten, used to be before they took their sign down and vacated the premises.

It’s actually not a bad location, being right across the street from bright and cheery Kagoda Park. Looking at the building, you might even find yourself daydreaming about setting up a cafe there…only to be surprised that someone’s already done just that.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NEWSTAND WOW (@newstandwow)

While the structure might look abandoned at first glance, there’s at least one person inside every day, manning the Newstand Wow cafe.

7月7日に岡崎の籠田公園の前でバナナジュースのお店オープンしました🍌 pic.twitter.com/zKIiz77G4j

— newstandwow (@newstandwow) July 9, 2020

Just walk on up to the hole in the wall, place your order, and an employee will pop right out to hand you your drink (sort of like how attendants sometimes pop out of the walls at train stations in Japan).

今日もお待ちしておりますっ🍌 pic.twitter.com/5fYSoyFmAw

— newstandwow (@newstandwow) July 11, 2020

As you can probably guess from one of the few pieces of exterior décor, Newstand Wow’s specialty is banana juice. Though they also sell almond milk, oat milk, and organic cocoa, the banana is clearly where their passion lies, and they use extra-ripe bananas so that their banana milk beverages are sweet and flavorful without adding any sugar.

https://twitter.com/kazu_guru/status/1293692564646670336

Newstand Wow opened on July 7, recently enough that Google Streetview still shows what the building looked like back when it was Furuhonya Shoten.

Aside from a pair of vending machines, there was a window selling some sort of sundry goods, but Newstand Wow has taken that minimalism several steps further, seeing as how its customer service hole no longer even has a pane of glass.

今日から当分　岡崎でもっとも有名なバナナを紹介します！毎日変えるんだろーな。それにしても全く新しい形。不思議。私は大麦いりカカオ風味のバナナジュース。早速公園の屋根付ベンチで飲んだ。若者はチャレンジャーで良い。#バナナジュース　 #篭田公園北角　 #ペンズアレイ近所　 #まちへこりン pic.twitter.com/lbKiXJHjzy

— 竹内さちよ (@gm_pensalley) July 7, 2020

Startled reactions online to the unusual setup have included:

“This is so awesome.”
“It looks like something out of Mad Max.”
“Do you have to barter with rare items in order to get a cup of banana juice?”
“It’s a banana juice fortress!”
“The ‘window’ reminds me of the slots for archers they built in castle walls.”

籠田公園横のバナナジュース屋さん。SNSで火が付いたらしく客が絶えない。このインターフェイス。 pic.twitter.com/Ih3479NWOK

— Ryuji Fujimura (@ryuji_fujimura) September 3, 2020

But the stony aesthetic doesn’t mean the staff have cold personalities. There’s a definite aura of fun on display, for example, in Newstand Wow’s periodic “banana of the day” posts.

今日のバナナは〜🌈💖💜#newstandwow #バナナジュース #岡崎 pic.twitter.com/6iaj0JUkWq

— newstandwow (@newstandwow) July 26, 2020

While there aren’t any tables, the park right across the way has covered benches and grassy fields, and the location also means that lots of people stop by while taking their dogs for a walk so if you’re an animal lover there’s one more reason to visit.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NEWSTAND WOW (@newstandwow)

Newstand Wow’s owners say they’re currently in the process of preparing an indoor seating space, which will be opening sometime later this fall. Hopefully they’ll still keep the takeout window just like it is now, as a cool little semi-secret for those in the know.

Cafe information
Newstand Wow
Address: Aichi-ken, Okazaki-shi, Kakodamachi 39
愛知県岡崎市籠田町39
Open 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Website (Instagram)

Source: Okazaki Odekake Navi via IT Media
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