End of the line for Akihabara video game-themed eatery.

Right now is a good time to pay a visit to the Square Enix Cafe in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood. The video game-themed eatery has just started the second half of its promotion for the recent remake of Dragon Quest III, with beautiful art from the famed RPG on the walls, selections from the soundtrack playing through the speakers, and all sorts of themed food, drink, and merch.

But there’s another reason to not delay if you’re interested in hitting up the Square Enix Cafe, which is that soon it’ll be permanently closing, marking the end of an eight-and-a-half-year presence in Tokyo’s otaku district.

The Square Enix Cafe originally opened in October of 2016 in a street-side storefront on the first floor of Akihabara’s Yodobashi Camera electronics megastore, not long before the release of Final Fantasy XV, which served as the inspiration for the cafe’s first round of special food items, interior decorations, and merchandise offerings. Since then, the cafe has cycled in and out new themes, celebrating launches and anniversaries for Square Enix’s library of games.

▼ The first batch of Square Enix Cafe menu items also included some ridiculously delicious burgers.

In January of 2020, the cafe relocated to its current location, with its entrance inside an enclosed pedestrian passage running just to the south of JR Akihabara Station, and kicking off with a salute to the then-upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Unfortunately, the cafe’s time is now coming to an end. “Thank you for your continued patronage of the Square Enix Cafe,” beings an announcement posted to the restaurant’s website, before the message takes a more somber turn. “We apologize for the suddenness of this announcement, but the Square Enix Cafe Tokyo will be closing as of March 31, 2025.”

No reason is given for the closure, but from a customer standpoint, it may have been difficult for the cafe to draw in large numbers of diners during its events for smaller, less internationally well-known games. The new location, which keeps the cafe invisible for anyone not in its corridor, probably didn’t help either. Or maybe this is a situation like that of the hot spring complex in Tokyo’s Odaiba neighborhood, where leasing issues, not a lack of customer demand, is the irresolvable problem.

Whatever the reason, the cafe’s days are now numbered. There is a bit of a silver lining in that the current plan is to reopen its attached Square Enix merch corner, but that’s only going to happen after the cafe is shut down, cleared away, and associated renovations take place, so there’s currently no timetable for a reopening.

▼ The Square Enix Cafe Tokyo merchandise area

Thankfully, Square Enix’s original Tokyo restaurant, Artnia, will remain open, although it’s on the other side of downtown from Akihabara, so it’ll require a detour for those otherwise wanting to spend their time diving into Akiba’s specialty shops and pop culture spaces.

Related: Square Enix Cafe Tokyo official website
Source: Square Enix Cafe via Otakomu
Photos ©SoraNews24
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