Thankfully there were no random monster encounters along the way.

Dress codes are pretty common at schools and companies in Japan, but not so much for social gatherings. Still, before Japanese Twitter user @yamadieval met up with some friends for a meal recently, they all agreed to show up with attire of a certain standard.

That didn’t mean they had to wear the latest brand-name styles, though. If anything, they went in the complete opposite direction, since everyone was dressed in decidedly old-fashioned fashions: knightly armor.

The organizer of this gallant gathering was fellow Twitter user and plate mail enthusiast @Richard18356235, who gathered the company of knights through his quests to various costuming and crafting events, as well as wandering the realms of social media in search of like-minded companions.

Now, while it’s true that cosplay has made greater inroads into mainstream pop culture in Japan than it has in many other countries, @Richard18356235 and his party didn’t just roll up unannounced like the restaurant was a dungeon they were going to raid. He contacted the establishment ahead of time to make sure their attire wouldn’t be a disturbance. He also wisely chose the restaurant Bokensha Girudo Sakaba, or Adventurer’s Guild Tavern, in the city of Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, as their venue. As you can probably guess from the name, the restaurant has a medieval flair to its interior design, and counts fantasy fans, cosplayers, and LARPers among its most loyal regular customers.

In addition to providing great backdrops for cosplay photos, Guild has on-site changing rooms, and it’s also a short walk from the nearest train stations, a major plus for those coming partly in-costume who didn’t want to walk too far through city streets in half-armor.

Plus, as @Richard18356235 is quick to point out, the food at Guild is all really good.

As for how the group obtained their sets of armors, like all grand adventurers, they came from a variety of sources. Some parts were purchased pre-made from overseas merchants, while others bought built-it-yourself crafting kits. A few particularly dedicated individuals make their armor from scratch, like the party member on the right in the photo below, who game fans might recognize is wearing the elite knight set from Dark Souls.

Meanwhile, this particular suit of armor is both fashionable and functional dinner attire.

So in the end, while there’s something to be said for the freedom of a dress code-free dinner with friends, there’s also something to be said for the awesomeness of having a dress code, as long as it’s one like this.

Related: Adventurer’s Guild Tavern
Source: Twitter/@Richard18356235, Twitter/@yamadieval via IT Media
Top image: Twitter/@yamadieval
Insert images: Twitter/@Richard18356235 (1, 2, 3, 4)
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