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New cafe in Japan won’t let you leave until you solve a mystery

Casey Baseel Apr 12, 2025
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Hatena Coffee lives up to its name.

When most people go to a cafe for a drink, they’re not there for the beverage alone. Just as important to the cafe experience is the ambiance, lingering in a cozy chair and soaking up the relaxing, inviting ambiance even after you’ve taken the last sip from your cup.

Cafe owners understand this too, which is why they generally don’t try to rush you out the door as soon as you’ve finished your drink. As a matter of fact, at a new cafe in the city of Yokohama, about 30 minutes south of downtown Tokyo, not only do you not have to leave right away, you’re technically not allowed to leave until you’ve solved a mystery.

Hatena Coffee, whose on-the-street sign you can see in the above photo, takes the first part of its name from hatena, the Japanese word for “question mark.” True to its name, it’s all about puzzles, riddles, and other brain-teasing mental challenges. Customers order not only a drink but a mystery too, with the understanding that you’re supposed to solve it before you go home.

The concept is similar to an escape room, but with a fundamental difference in tone. Escape rooms are all about trying to find the way out as quickly as possible. There’s usually a time limit, and with the goal being not just to solve the puzzles, but to solve them as quickly as possible, so you’re always aware of the ticking clock.

Hatena Coffee, on the other hand, wants to let you take your time with its mysteries, savoring them like you would a nice cup of coffee or a skillfully mixed cocktail (the cafe offers both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages). The management estimates that most of its puzzles will take between 30 to 60 minutes to solve, but there’s no rush as you figure out how to unlock boxes, decipher codes, or whatever else your mystery involves.

▼ By the way, odds are that the staff will let you go home if you absolutely can’t solve your puzzle, so you could also think of the cafe’s policy as being that you can take as long as you like to solve it.

All drinks are priced at 500 yen (US$3.35) and all mysteries at 1,500 yen, with customers required to order one of each (though you can tack on more of either category after that). The puzzles are all created by Tantei Atalier, a group that also runs a chain of murder mystery game rooms, and while Hatena Coffee’s initial batch of puzzles is oriented towards newcomers to the hobby, the cafe says it plans to add more challenging ones too going forward. Oh, and if you can’t think on an empty stomach, they also serve sandwiches, pasta plates, and desserts with prices from 500 to 700 yen.

▼ The cafe has also posted a mini teaser riddle, with some sort of special prize for those who can decode it and enter the correct answer at the linked URL.

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢
　解けた人だけが見れる
　　　秘密のサイト
◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢

あることに気付けばサクッと解ける謎解き問題をつくりました🕵️‍♂️

答えがわかったら、このページで回答を入力⇩⇩https://t.co/nmq7aq4zQJ

解けた人は「いいね」！ pic.twitter.com/dsYXHHKJaH

— 探偵キャンプ東京銀座店マーダーミステリーカフェ (@tanteicamp) March 13, 2025

Hatena Coffee is located about a five-minute walk from Yokohama Station. Walk-in customers are welcome, but reservations can be made online here. Note, however, that the cafe is only open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays which are also not holidays, though it will be open on April 29 and 30 and May 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 for customers who wish to come in during the Golden Week vacation period. Admittedly, that’s a little complicated, but it’s also appropriate that it takes a little brain power to figure out when exactly the mystery cafe is open.

Cafe information
Hatena Coffee / はてな珈琲店
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ku, Tsuruya-cho 3-32-19, Aoyagi Building 3rd floor
神奈川県横浜市神奈川区鶴屋町３丁目３２−１９青柳ビル 3階
Website

Source: PR Times, Hatena Coffee
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: Hatena Coffe, PR Times
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