A Guide to Samurai Restaurant Time in Shinjuku

For years, Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district (in Shinjuku Ward) hosted one of the city’s most infamous tourist attractions: the “Robot Restaurant.” Although the Robot Restaurant closed its doors in 2020, the same location now houses a new and equally overwhelming dinner show — Samurai Restaurant Time!

Although words can’t do the experience justice, our writers ventured to the Shinjuku Samurai Restaurant to see for themselves this reincarnated Kabukicho cabaret.

In a warren of backstreets and alleys is the hyperactive, only-in-Japan dinner show called “Samurai Restaurant Time.” Occupying the same spot as its predecessor, its vibe is very similar, but the staff insist this is not the Robot Restaurant.

The main differences you’ll notice are 1) fewer robots and more dance or fighting routines, and 2) food that better reflects the name “Restaurant.”

You can still expect a sensory overload of raucous, exuberant action from an energetic cast. The Samurai Restaurant show is in three acts, and depicts elements of classic Japanese culture like samurai, demons, festivals, and more.

Production values have been raised since the Robot Restaurant, but it’s still the shock value and the outpouring of energy that will leave a lasting impression! Expect stage fighting, live music, and elaborate festival floats to punctuate the dancing, and help tell a story — although figuring out what’s going on is part of the fun.

The show starts officially at 2:30 p.m. and doors close at 5:30 p.m., with two intermissions and time after to hang out and finish your drinks in the unique surroundings. Intermittent and risqué pre-show entertainment starts at some point after 1:00 p.m. for early arrivals.

The content is sure to change over time, but read on for an overview of the Tokyo Samurai Restaurant experience.

Amid a crowded nightlife district, the Samurai Restaurant in Shinjuku can be a bit hard for visitors to find.

The venue is about a four to five-minute walk from JR Shinjuku Station's East Exit, or exits B11 and B12 of the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line. From Shinjuku Station, instead of taking the distinctive red archway entrance to Kabukicho, the simplest route is straight up Kabukicho Sakura-dori Street (find the entrance with this map).

Step into the colorful entrance it shares with the “Gira Gira Girls” bar, directly opposite a Family Mart store.

Once you’ve arrived, you’ll check in at this counter in the outrageously bedazzled reception.

But before you move on, take a good look around. There’s a lot going on even before the front desk!

If you have baggage (and it’s not too big), you can stash it in the fabulous lockers provided. Then, you’ll be led through glittering passages and stairways to reach the underground performance space.

The seating is in two rows facing the stage, with counters up front and tables in the back. Once you’re there, you’ll get a menu in case you want more refreshments than come with your ticket, and a colorful wand light to wave while you enjoy the show.

The Robot Restaurant wasn’t highly rated for its food, so you may be surprised at how tasty the noodle and bento dinner options are here! The sukiyaki beef bento is a good choice.

If you book discount tickets online, you’ll choose from five light meal options with your ticket, or there’s a two-drink ticket. The choices are sukiyaki-style beef bowl, appetizer set, ramen, udon, or sushi bento.

The drink ticket lets you choose two from the following:
-    Asahi Super Dry beer
-    Strong Zero lemon or grapefruit chu-hi
-    Whisky with soda or cola (highball/cola highball)
-    Red or white wine
-    Nihonshu (rice wine sake)
-    Assorted soft drinks

If you’re early, you can tuck into your meal during the adult-oriented pre-show until 2:30 p.m. The lights go down during the main show, so you may wish to eat during intermission, if not beforehand.

When Samurai Restaurant Time begins, the lights go down and the energy goes through the roof. All manner of weird and wonderful monsters boogie across the stage while dancers frolic with wild abandon. 

Familiar upbeat tunes should help get you in the mood, and the array of eye-catching costumes keep you off-balance. A vague storyline about a “Great Yokai War” ties this to the Japanese theme (yokai are Japanese monsters).

The visuals may be more engrossing than the dance here, but you can spot some talent among the cast, and live musicians on the side give fluent accompaniment. 

Soon enough the wand lights are waving all around, and the passion of the performance brings the crowd together in applause as the curtain comes down.

Then, the first intermission is punctuated by the first samurai sword fight, with impressive flips and effects displayed onstage.

And there’s a chance one lucky spectator could win a prize, like a bucket of “samurai popcorn”!

In contrast to the first act, part two starts softy. Less of a dance extravaganza, part two focuses on dramatic performances like song, stage combat, and plenty of melodrama. The sakura-themed performance of a Japanese ballad is the contrast needed to break up the rest of the high-octane antics.

But the antics soon resume. Both male and female performers dance, leap, and fight their way across the stage.

The story of is told in English, though sometimes broken, with subtitles projected on the back of the stage.

The actors play out a tale of samurai and shrine maidens, demons and death, and they give it all their heart. It conveys a good sense of the typical Japanese drama, where over-the-top is par for the course. After the climax of part two, another intermission gives time for a refill or maybe a themed souvenir. 

The finale stage of the show again contrasts the previous one, introduced by dancers in Japanese festival get-up, waving fans and stirring up the crowd. With the traditional chant of "wasshoi, wasshoi!" they make it clear that party time has arrived.

A powerful taiko drum competition plays out, with a fiery red float carrying demonic male drummers and a cool blue one loaded with angelic females circling around the stage. The angels and demons do battle through their music on the intricately decorated platforms, and just watching them pivot around the stage is an entertainment itself.

If the song and dance before left you wanting more, the vigor and presentation of this taiko drum competition should carry you away, with the beautiful floats reminiscent of the famous Nebuta Matsuri festival.

Floats designed like portable shrines carry singers and musicians around a stage spreading irrepressible energy with lively music and infectious smiles. You won’t take your eyes off the stage, which gets steadily overwhelmed by dancers, monsters, and a few robots, as a general sense of chaos unfolds.

Toward the finale, machines and performers appear one after another, in a medley of madness. The electricity on stage builds to a crescendo of song, dance, and surprises, to sweep everyone and everything along til the end.

After the curtain falls, the neon and the noise settle down… You’ll want a minute to digest what you’ve seen, before venturing back out into Kabukicho.

Address

1-7-7 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (map)

Access

About 4–5 minutes from JR Shinjuku Station's East Exit, or Tokyo Metro exits B11/B12

Opening hours

13:00–17:30
(Samurai Restaurant Time: 14:30–17:30)

Price

Show + meal 10,000 JPY at the door, 8,900 JPY via Rakuten Travel Experiences