Ji-chan and ba-chan are waiting for you at G-cha and Ba-cha.
Shibuya is one of Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhoods, so it makes sense that a new takeout tea cafe, with an inventive menu, pop aesthetic, and fashionable staff has just opened there. However, the people serving the drinks aren’t teens taking a year to find themselves before starting college, or young adults living a beatnik lifestyle. Instead, the customer service staff here is a group of Japanese grannies and grandpas.
G-cha and Ba-cha gets its name from some simultaneous plays on words, as ji-chan and ba-chan are ways of saying “grandpa” and “grandma” in Japanese, but their affectionate suffix of -chan sounds very similar to cha, the Japanese word for “tea.” The average age among the customer service staff at G-cha and Ba-cha (also called G&B, for short) is 73, and the oldest employee of the cafe is 80 years old.
The menu isn’t steeped in old-fashioned austerity, though. G-cha and Ba-cha puts a spin on traditional Japanese tea flavors, adding jasmine to its green tea and ginger to its hojicha (roasted green tea). Their matcha lattes can also be dressed up with the addition of salty caramel sauce, chocolate, or coffee, and if you’re looking for something sweet but not to drink, they have matcha ice cream too.
G-cha and Ba-cha has no dine-in space, but the stylishly playful aesthetics of their packages and cups help you take the shop’s atmosphere with you as part of your to-go order.
▼ The kanji characters for “energetic” and “healthy” decorate these takeout bags.
In deference to the staff’s ages, there are a few figurative wrinkles to how G-cha and Ba-cha operates. For one, the customer service staff takes orders and serves drinks while seated, a rarity in Japan, to lessen the strain on their knees, backs, and other joints, and there’s a flexible mid-shift break system in place as well. Customers fill out their orders on slips of paper instead of placing them verbally and payment in by cashless methods only, eliminating the need to memorize orders or work a cash register. And while the customer service staff are all in their senior years, there’s also a younger employee working the back of the cafe and making the drinks.
It’s all part of G-cha and Ba-cha’s desire to create a place where seniors can be active, productive, and connected to the society and the community in a way that’s fun but not a physical toil. It’s located just a two-minute walk from Shibuya Station, so it’s easy to fold a visit into your plans to see the Nintendo store, scramble intersection, or any of Shibuya’s other famous sights, though G-cha and Ba-cha does caution that service may be temporarily suspended if all of the staff decides to take a break at the same time.
Cafe information
G-cha and Ba-cha
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Shibuya 1-12-24
東京都渋谷区渋谷1-12-24 707
Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Source, images: PR Times
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