Concept Cafes (コンカフェ), Girl Bars (ガルバ) and Cabaret Clubs (キュバクラ) are essentially all places in which you get to chat with a girl while enjoying drinks together. The main difference is, that concept cafes and girl bars do not require a red-light business license. Cabaret Clubs, or “Kyabakuras”, do.
The whole hostess culture, under which all these places fall, are relatively unique to Japan. Not only in quantity but also in how creative the concepts can get. For instance:
» Bunny Girl Yakiniku: a “yakiniku x girl bar” in Ikebkuro.Eat yakiniku with a cute girl dressed in a bunny costume.
» Abyss, probably the most popular concafe in Kabukicho.Enjoy a shisha, some drinks and chat with cute girls in succubus costumes.
But first, the differences:
Concept Cafe / Concafe / コンカフェ
In a concept cafe, you typically pay a fixed fee for a time based all-you-can-drink. If you want to talk to a girl, you have to buy her drinks, those cost extra. The girl stands behind a counter, this is important because it allows the restaurant to operate without a red-light business license. However, in a concafe, the girl will not be assigned to you, they will rotate, and you might have some time alone every now and then. Concafes always feature a specific theme (concept) and uniforms that are often either cute or sexy.
Read out Concafe & Girl Bar guide
Girl bar / ガルバ / ガールズバー
In a girl bar, you can expect the same setting as in a concafe, except that the girl is assigned to you and stays with you. Some girl bars will rotate the girl in a set interval, often 20 minutes, unless you nominate a girl to remain with you permanently for an additional fee.
Read out Concafe & Girl Bar guide
Cabaret Club / Kyabakura / キャバクラ
In a kyabakura, you can expect the same setting as in a girl bar, except that the girl sits next to you. Please note that the term kyabakura can carry different nuances depending on the region of Japan you are in.
Sexy Cabaret Club / Sekukyaba / Oppai Pub / セクキャバ
There are also Sexy Cabaret Clubs. In a Sexy Cabaret Club or Sekukyaba (セクキャバ), there is soft contact: a bit of breast touching, some kisses, sometimes the girl is topless. On the English internet, Sekukyabas are often referred to as Oppai Pubs, Boob Bars, or similar.
Dive into our further guides:
How to find Concafes, Girlbars or Kyabakuras (Hostess Clubs)
How to find Sekukyabas / Oppai Pubs
Concafe & Girl Bar etiquette: How to avoid awkward moments
Information Kiosks, are they trustworthy?
