Feel like having pizza for your boys’ night out? Better find somewhere else to eat it.
During rush hour, a number of Japan’s busier commuter rail lines designate cars as being for female passengers only. Likewise, it’s standard practice at video game arcades for the sticker picture booth section to be off-limits to men unless they’re accompanied by a female customer.
In both cases, the aim is to make women feel safer in a situation where men may try to grope or otherwise accost them by taking advantage of a lack of mobility or peripheral vision. But while neither one of those factors is really in effect at ConTERRAZZA, an Italian restaurant in Tokyo, the eatery nonetheless refuses service to all-male groups of diners.
https://twitter.com/araichuu/status/777154498208763905Japanese Twitter user @araichuu snapped a photo of a sign outside ConTERRAZZA that diagrams the policy. Female customers are welcome, as are men who come as a pair with a woman or in a group that includes women. However, all-make groups, as well as men looking to dine alone, will be turned away.
The establishment, which opened in July, is unabashed regarding the rule, going so far as to enthusiastically tout it in ConTERRAZZA’s self-introduction of its page on popular Japanese restaurant website Guru Navi, which opens with:
“The first restaurant in Japan to prohibit all-male groups! A new style of all-you-can-eat-and-drink Italian restaurant that’s kind to women. And can you believe it? We even offer all-you-can-eat Häagen-Dazs!”
Surprisingly, the restaurant is located in Shinjuku Ward’s Kabuki-cho, one of Tokyo’s seediest red light districts that’s packed with hostess clubs, sexy massage parlors, and other lascivious male-oriented services. ConTERRAZZA boasts, though, that it wants to defy expectations for the neighborhood by “providing a place for women who want to enjoy themselves to their heart’s content, without worrying about men looking at them.”
To clarify, ConTERRAZZA isn’t a host club, butler cafe, or any sort of other food and drink provider serving titillation for ladies along with its fare. It’s a legitimate restaurant, which has some online taking issue with its essentially labeling half the population as undesirables who can’t be trusted on the premises. Still, men aren’t completely banned from the place, so if the food is good enough maybe we’ll see services popping up where men can hire a woman to get their group in the door, as long as they pay for her food too.
Sources: Hamster Sokuho, Guru Navi, Twitter/@araichuu

Women-only restaurant in Tokyo suddenly reverses policy, allows male diners 【Update】
Tokyo Comic-Con reverses policy, will allow male cosplayers to dress as female characters
Nadeshico Sushi restaurant challenges gender roles with all-female staff clad in kimono
Otaku dating service says some of its female members specifically refuse to date Love Live! fans
Tokyo Comic-Con explicitly prohibits men from cosplaying as female characters
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Japanese-style afternoon tea in this Japanese manor house outside downtown Tokyo is something special
Japan’s popular bead bonsai kit is as beautiful as it is gruelling to make
Japan’s awesomely beautiful Alpen Route snow corridor is now open
Pokémon hot spring footbath opening in Japan this spring
Toyota built a life-sized Miraidon Pokémon and are letting people test drive it this weekend
New Studio Ghibli die-cast anime cars on their way, even if neither one is really a car【Pics】
New Totoro carabiner pouches are ready to clip/tag along with you on all your adventures[Photos]
Retro Japanese train is our new favourite office space
Japanese convenience store sells an epic egg sandwich you won’t find anywhere else
Wisteria season starts early with blooming of Japan’s Great Wisteria in its beautiful garden
Brand-new Pokémon manhole covers coming to help the recovery of a disaster-stricken part of Japan
Japan’s best conveyor belt sushi restaurant of seven years ago has now, finally, come to Tokyo
Injuries on stairs in Tokyo highlight an overlooked design flaw
Move aside, convenience store egg sando – there’s a better version of the iconic sandwich in Japan
Japanese government wants overseas anime market to roughly triple in 10 years, but are they crazy?
Japanese bento shop sells croquettes for 13 cents, but are they any good?
Starbucks Japan releases FIVE new Frappuccinos in a day, and we try them all in 90 minutes
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Meet the Japanese woman in charge of Tokyo’s famous Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku 【Video】
Tokyo cheerleader cafe adds male cheerleader service
Tokyu Kabukicho Tower backtracks on its gender-neutral toilets, rejigging them to appease public
Tokyo retro kimono photography service provides customers with gorgeous snapshots of the past
Head of Tokyo Olympics doesn’t want women in leadership roles because he thinks they talk too much
“Is it acceptable to go to a family restaurant for your first date?” Japanese survey asks
Tokyo’s all-female sushi chef restaurant has closed down, is being dismantled
Young Japanese women like alcohol more than any other age group, almost as much as old men【Survey】
Tokyo school teaches cross-dressing men, transgender individuals to move and speak femininely
Tokyo restaurant’s all-you-can-eat gyoza and all-you-can-drink beer starts at just 20 bucks
Cheap monthly subscription to Tokyo yakiniku restaurant lets us eat intestines every day for free
Female politicians stage “white action” protest against Tokyo Olympic head’s misogynist remarks
Tokyo’s new Dragon Capital restaurant complex looks like fairy tale, sounds like dream come true
Combination host club/bookstore proposed for Tokyo’s liveliest nightlife neighborhood
Tokyo restaurant wins prized tuna at New Year auction for 114.2 million yen and serves it up to customers