Hamariba Café of board game café in Japan, Kanagawa, Yokohama
What is Hamariba café?
Hamariba café(Hamariba) says ''all seats can be shared a table''.
Why Hamariba decided this stance? Official said
''≪According to a questionnaire of a famous board game café, 60% of customer doesn't want to share a table.≫ so Hamariba needed to start this stance for business''
and also
''Creating a lifelong adult community from Yokohama[1] through board games'' is decided management philosophy so Hamariba wants to give a meeting chance in this shop.
Reasons for sticking to board game cafes where all seats are shared[全席相席OKのボードゲームカフェにこだわる理由]
[1]Yokohama: Capital and the largest city of Kanagawa prefecture.
The name of the store has the word "cafe" in it, but it's not actually a restaurant, so it doesn't sell anything other than bottled drinks on the market. Instead, you are free to bring in food and drink, so if you want to eat, you need to bring it in advance. When I visited, Dr. Pepper and green tea were on sale.
What a place is really like
It is a bit regrettable that the payment method is only cash. It's convenient if you can use a debit card, credit card and other, but it's not a chain store or a store that deals with very large amounts of money, so you can't help it.
When entering the store, it hangs a name tag from the neck so that even people who meet for the first time can understand each name. This name tag doubles as a stamp card, and it seems that you will get a discount if you go several times. The name tag and stamp card will be stored at Hamariba, so I think it's a good idea not to worry about forgetting it.
It was full as soon as I visited. As far as I asked the clerk, Golden Week[2] of 2020 and 2021 was a bit of a mess due to COVID-19, while 2022 was not as good as before, but the clerk was very happy to see so many people there.
[2]Golden Week: April 29 to early May containing multiple Japanese holidays. It is also known as 'Haru no Ōgata Renkyū' (春の大型連休, Long holiday series in spring).
The majority of the people were in their late 20s to early 40s in terms of age group. The ratio of men to women is 9:1. From what I've heard, there seems to be a lot of people who originally played trading card games like Yu-Gi-Oh.
There're over a hundred the number of games, so you won't have any trouble finding the best one. However We didn't know which one to start with, so we asked the clerk and regulars to recommend one for us.
Game we played this time
I had only played Blokus before, so I was able to play all of them with a fresh mind. Of these, Lucky Number and Fosilis were the most interesting to play with. To put it succinctly, I think the Lucky number is "makes bargaining more exciting even with simple rules" and Fosilis is the most attractive games because of the "complex gimmick".Feelings
We were completely beginner to the store, and they were kind to us in many ways, but overall, I get the impression that the store is kind to the regulars and also is supported by regulars who are half volunteers (in terms of management philosophy). In fact, in the latter half, We had regulars explain game to me instead of the clerk (the clerk is basically alone, so he is busy).
So you wanna play "I want to play leisurely with only my family or friends", "I'm not good at talking to strangers in the first place", "I hope to receive friendly and polite customer service", "I want to play at a beautiful restaurant that can be used on a date", I recommend that you may want to invite someone you know and go to another board game café (such as JELLY JELLY CAFE, a major one in Yokohama). On the other hand, I think it's a pretty fun space for people who want to expand their relationships with people, find fun in meeting strangers, like people who like TCG and used to play against each other at the store, and people who want to interact with shopkeepers in a casual way.
Advice to visit there
- Maybe it cannot communicate by English and other language in this shop. If you wanna visit, you need to speak Japanese or bring with Japanese speaker.
- Many of the board games in this store are from outside Japan but I think all of the Hamariba's games are in Japanese version only.
- Cash only.
- The luggage storage area is small, so it would be better for the store and other players to come empty-handed and with as little as possible.
- It doesn't have a requirement to make a reservation, but I have the impression that it would be easier for the restaurant to prepare seats and games if you book, so it might be better to make a reservation using the form on the official website at least one day in advance rather than making a same-day reservation.
- The nearest station is Takashimachō Station on the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line, but I think the best way to get there is to walk from the east exit of Yokohama Station, except for people along the subway line. There is a supermarket on the way, so if you want to get food, you should stop by there.
- There is no parking at the store. There is a parking lot nearby, but we can't stop too many cars, so I think it would be better to go north of the west exit of Yokohama Station or around Minato Mirai.
コメント
コメントを投稿