If you love anime and unusual food, you’ll definitely be interested in collab cafés. Japan is a true paradise for pop culture fans, and these places have become incredibly popular among enthusiasts.
What exactly is an anime café? What’s the secret behind their popularity? How do they attract fans and tourists from around the world, and where can you buy anime merch from Japan without leaving home? Find out in our lively review!
You’ve probably seen photos of adorable dishes styled after popular anime characters; that’s the kind of food served at collaboration cafés (“collab cafés”) in Japan. Visitors to these cafés can enjoy unique themed meals dedicated to different anime series and also buy merchandise featuring their favorite characters.
Many anime cafés collaborate with specific titles for a limited time, so true fans line up to try the exclusive dishes, soak up the unique atmosphere, and grab some limited-edition merch to take home as a keepsake.
If you can’t visit a collab café in Japan yourself, don’t worry, with ZenMarket, you can learn all about them and even buy authentic merchandise from these cafés with just a few clicks! Find out where to buy original anime merch from Japan in our blog.
What’s the secret behind the success of collab cafés?
As the name suggests, a collab café is a venue created in collaboration with popular Japanese pop-culture franchises, offering a unique themed menu and anime merchandise.
Organizers do everything possible to make you want to visit, with vibrant décor, creative and cute dishes you won’t find anywhere else, and of course, limited-edition anime merch that not only decorates some of the dishes but is also available for purchase.
Sometimes, collab cafés also host special exhibitions where you can see interesting anime exhibits, such as original manga pages.
What makes food from collab cafés so appealing, and how else can they surprise you? In many anime cafés, you can:
- taste food styled after anime characters, for example, Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film;
- try dishes based on recipes from anime or popular games like Genshin Impact;
- find sweets that convey the character of anime characters through their appearance, for example, parfaits in the style of the heroines from Gotoubun no Hanayome (The Quintessential Quintuplets), decorated with edible images of the quintuplets;
- order bright and delicious drinks styled after favorite titles, as well as coffee with unique latte art featuring anime characters;
- get limited-edition gifts for visitors;
- and, of course, buy unique anime merch with your favorite characters: keychains, badges, folders, posters, acrylic figures, and much more!
What kinds of collab cafés exist in Japan?
Collaboration cafés in Japan can be either permanent or temporary. Most often, they are partnerships between existing café chains and various anime franchises. Permanent cafés are usually dedicated to a single title or character, such as the Final Fantasy Eorzea Café.
Fans of the Japanese role-playing game of the same name can visit these collaboration cafés in Tokyo and Osaka, which are a partnership between Final Fantasy and Pasela Resorts, a Japanese chain of hotels and entertainment venues.
Before visiting an anime café, it’s best to make a reservation in advance. Some popular spots are impossible to get into without one. For example, at the well-known Pokémon Café Nihonbashi in Tokyo, you need to book a table a month before your visit, whereas in other places, it can be done just before you go.
However, most often, collab cafés in Japan operate as pop-up stores, offering visitors unique food, drinks, merchandise, and souvenirs for a limited time.
For example, in October 2025, a temporary anime café dedicated to the popular fantasy anime Sousou no Frieren will open for a month at ORBcafe Ginza in Tokyo. Meanwhile, all locations of the well-known Japanese hot spring café chain Gokurakuyu RAKU SPA will feature a themed menu celebrating the famous VTubers from Nijisanji from October 9 to November 11, 2025, and, of course, sell anime merchandise featuring them.
So, keep an eye on the dates if you want to visit a collab café based on your favorite title, as you wouldn’t want to miss the special event.
What should you do if you can’t visit a collab café but really want the merch from there? The answer is simple — go to the Anime Store.JP online shop by Collabo Cafe.
Why should you buy anime merch from Anime Store.JP?
If you love anime figures, keychains, plushies, and other cute merch from Japan, then you’ll definitely enjoy Anime Store.JP! In this online shop, you’ll find a wide selection of exclusive anime merchandise from Japanese collaboration cafés, the kind of items that are hard to find anywhere else.
What makes Anime Store.JP stand out from other shops?
1. Anime Store.JP is operated by Collabo Cafe. It’s a popular Japanese information site where you can find announcements for all new collaboration cafés, pop-up stores, and other upcoming anime events.
If you’re hunting for rare anime merchandise, you’ll find announcements of exclusive anime goods there. And if you love anime cafés, Collabo Cafe is the best way to stay updated on all upcoming collaborations.
At Collabo Cafe, you can not only find out which titles and characters the events will be dedicated to, but also see other important and helpful information:
- dates and locations of temporary collab cafes in Japan
- photographs of the establishments' interiors
- reviews from customers who have already visited the anime cafes
- information about promotions and limited-edition gifts for visitors
- a detailed menu of all unique anime dishes with photographs
- types and prices of themed anime merchandise
2. Only authentic products. Anime Store.JP sells only authentic Japanese anime merchandise, which is carefully inspected before being put up for sale. Since the store is operated by a reputable media company, its reputation and level of consumer trust are very high.
Therefore, you don’t need to worry about the safety of your purchases at Anime Store.JP, where you’ll find only 100% original anime merchandise from Japan.
3. A wide range and exclusive merch from collab cafés. The store offers a vast selection of various merchandise from more than 1,000 popular anime titles, with new items added every day.
At Anime Store.JP, you can not only buy popular anime products but also find rare limited-edition goods and, most importantly, exclusive merchandise from collaboration cafés in Japan.
At Anime Store.JP, you’ll find:
- anime figures
- anime plushies
- keychains
- badges
- mugs
- posters
- anime folders
- acrylic figures
- T-shirts with anime prints
- pens and other stationery with anime characters
- desk mats
- and much more!
Who should visit Anime Store.JP? All fans of anime merchandise, those interested in collaboration cafés, collectors of figurines, and seekers of rare goods from Japan.
What can you buy on Anime Store.JP?
Figures and acrylic stands
If you collect anime figures, then at Anime Store.JP, you’ll find a wide variety of fascinating bishoujo (beautiful girl) and bishounen (handsome boy) figures, from complete-scale figures to cute mini chibi-style ones! You’ll also find a huge selection of affordable acrylic stand figures straight from collaboration cafés in Japan. Hurry and grab some exclusive merch with us.
What to buy?
Buy figurines on Anime Store.JP now
Badges and keychains
Small and affordable character merchandise, like badges and keychains, is very popular at collaboration cafés in Japan, and most visitors tend to buy these items as souvenirs. If you’re hunting for rare pins or keychains, then Anime Store.JP, with its huge selection of exclusive merch from anime cafés, is the best place to find the items on your wish list.
What to buy?
Purchase keychains
Choose anime badges with us
Stationery supplies
Another huge and incredibly diverse category of Japanese merch is stationery with anime characters. There’s plenty to choose from: pens, pencils, sharpeners, folders, pencil cases, and much more. These items are useful both for children going to school and for collectors of cute anime goods.
What to buy?
- Symboli Rudolf anime folder: a convenient folder for A4-format documents, decorated with images of Symboli Rudolf, one of the heroines of the popular Japanese mobile game Umamusume.
- Marin Kitagawa pen: a ballpoint pen featuring an image of Marin Kitagawa in cosplay, the main heroine of the popular anime My Dress Up Darling.
Buy stationery supplies at Anime Store.JP
Clothing, bags, and tableware
If you love useful accessories that you can wear or use for a long time, then Anime Store.JP is for you. After all, it offers not only collectible anime merchandise but also a wide range of anime-print clothing, bags, and various tableware from cups to plates. So, there’s definitely plenty to choose from.
What to buy?
- Kaguya-sama T-shirt: a 100% cotton T-shirt featuring chibi-style images of characters from the anime Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai.
- Sousou no Frieren Bag: a stylish shopper bag featuring Frieren, exclusive merchandise from a collaboration café.
- Hatsune Miku Plate: a curry plate featuring the popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, perfect for outdoor meals.
Choose T-shirts
Bags
Tableware with anime characters
Other interesting items
On Anime Store.JP, you’ll find many other interesting products and accessories featuring anime characters. These include various phone cases, pencil cases, blankets, umbrellas, masks, cosplay clothing, and much more. The range of different merchandise here is massive, so your chances of finding something you like increase many times over.
What to buy?
- Spy x Family Blanket: a cute 100×70 cm blanket featuring beloved anime characters from the popular spy-themed romantic comedy.
- Aura Plush from Sousou no Frieren: add an adorable plush toy of the antagonist Aura from Frieren to your shelf, along with many other anime plushies available at Anime Store.JP.
- Mizuhara Chizuru Tapestry: decorate your room’s wall with a large A1-sized tapestry of the main heroine from the anime Kanojo Okarishimasu!
Purchase anime merchandise from Anime Store.JP in Japan
How to buy Japanese anime merchandise online?
If you love collab cafés in Japan but want to buy anime merch from abroad, it’s incredibly easy to do. Anime Store.JP is a recommended shop integrated directly into the ZenMarket website, so you don’t even have to go anywhere else to shop. To buy an item you like, just follow this simple guide:
- Go to the Anime Store.JP page on ZenMarket.
- Choose your favorite anime merchandise.
- Click “Add to Cart”, and that’s it! After that, all you need to do is pay for your item, wait for it to arrive at the warehouse, choose a convenient international shipping method, and then wait for your package to arrive at your local post office.
💡Also Read: How to Shop on ZenMarket
If you are looking for specific products, use the search function for Anime Store.JP through the ZenMarket search bar. You can search either by the Japanese title of the series, which you can copy, for example, from Wikipedia, or by the type of merchandise. To do this, these Japanese words will come in handy:
- アニメグッズ (anime guzzu) – anime merchandise
- キーホルダー (kii horudaa) – keychain
- バッジ (bajji) – badge
- アクリルスタンド (akuriru sutando) – acrylic stand figure
- フィギュア (figyua) – figurine
- 縫いぐるみ (nuigurumi) – plush toy
- 文房具 (bunbougu) – stationery items
- ボールペン (booru pen) – ballpoint pen
- 鉛筆 (enpitsu) – pencil
- 鉛筆削り (enpitsu kezuri) – pencil sharpener
- ペンケース (pen keesu) – pencil case
- クリアファイル (kuria fairu) – clear file (anime folder)
- ブランケット (buranketto) – blanket
- Tシャツ (tii-shatsu) – T-shirt
- 食器 (shokki) – tableware / dishes
- コスプレアイテム (kosupure aitemu) – cosplay items
- タペストリー (tapesutorii) – tapestry / wall scroll
- バッグ (baggu) – bag
Conclusion
Now you know that it’s not at all necessary to travel to Japan to get anime goods and exclusive merchandise from collaboration cafés. Anime Store.JP is your guide to the world of Japanese anime culture and the best place to buy anime merch straight from Japan. Let’s pick some together!
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