Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's CathyCat!
What kind of cool and cute things can we find in a Japanese Cafe?
We've come here again to Cafe Choco Tea to find out!
This time we're gonna go inside, find out about
cool things you can find in Japanese cafes and are they different from the West? Let's go and find out.
You can see already "please disinfect and please wear a mask"
So we're gonna do that and let's head inside.
Hello!
Please introduce yourself!
Nice to meet you my name is Takahata and this is my Cafe Chocotea!
Is it ok if we start outside the cafe?
There's two tiny clocks in front of the store.
These clocks show the opening and the ending time.
Quick warning for foreign visitors, if a cafe says L.O it means "last order"
- Last order! - We don't call it "last call" in Japan.
After the last order time, you can't order any food or drinks anymore.
It's more important to know a cafe's Last Order time than it's closing time.
You see sign boards like these a lot in Japanese shops.
This time it doesn't say what's on your menu but what corona safety steps are expected.
Our cafe is pretty strict on it's corona measurements.
We write our rules easily down for customers to see them before they come in.
You got partitions between the seats since corona started?
They say that many people got infected in eating establishments so we're extra careful.
What is this? - It's a garbage bag.
What for? - For wipes and things that have been used around the mouth and all areas that touch the body directly.
That way it's not all over the table. At Japan's elementary schools use these to keep the lunch tables tidy.
I think almost all Japanese people can fold these.
So it's an origami garbage bag? - Yeah usually made out of newspaper scrap paper
- So you can throw it all out afterwards? - That's right
Looking around the cafe...
I found a tiny door, it even has a name printed on it!
In our cafe, 4 fairies are living.
You can find their 4 fairy doors all around the cafe.
Those are original doors from the Ireland fairies. We sell some too.
Is this an air purifier?
It's to cleanse the air in the pandemic times and to cleanse out the pollen too.
Right now is hayfever high season!
It helps cleanse the air during these days.
That's why we got it.
I saw a sink right here too.
That's our separate sink.
This is different than the one in the toilets.
In Japan you need to provide a separate sink to wash hands, away from the toilet or you can't open business.
I am allowed to look inside the staff space now! What a rare chance but...
By law you have to separate the staff area and the customer area.
You need to have that in order to open a cafe business.
Well, with your allowance I shall enter now then!
I was wondering earlier what this document on the wall is for.
This is a document that qualifies that I know about restaurant hygiene.
It's to prevent food poisoning of customers and to keep the cafe cleanly
It's a qualification you need to have.
At least one staff member in the cafe has to have taken and passed the class and the test for it it..
This is an Italian machine but the Japanese supplier did adapt them before selling it to me.
The water abroad is generally hard water but Japan has really soft water.
That's why there is a water cleansing device connected to the machine now.
I see it!
There are some really big spoons and some really detailed ones.
The big spoon is originally a Bibimba spoon.
What spoon is for which hand? - Left is always the big spoon.
On the right, there is always the 1 size smaller one.
You will never use the biggest spoon and the smallest spoon together.
It's always the size that is just one smaller.
Like this and this.
Like those.
The spoons are getting smaller and smaller.
There's a reason for this.
If you scoop like that, you don't just get foam but also some liquid.
But you only want to have the foam.
This is almost not worth being called a spoon. - It's tiny!
This is originally a clay art spoon.
It's there to give the drinks more details.
My my mum uses clay and her teacher in class also uses those clay spoons.
She said she had a spoon like that and made me try it out.
There are super cute pictures next to the bar.
What are those? - Those (laughs)
These are examples for the other staff videos.
I realized something curious about this cup board behind you.
Hey isn't that you on the picture down there.
This was made for me by the neighbourhood kids.
That's so cute...
This contains utensils and plates.
They actually check that dishes and such are put away in a close-able cubpoard.
It protects the dishes and they won't catch so much dust.
There are rules like that...
There are cute stickers, what are they for?
This is a bacterial test certification.
The staff has to do a stool check.
And then we find out if you
Do you know what stool is meant? - Nope?
It's a test that checks that you don't have the bacteria that can cause food poisoning.
All staff members who deal with food, need to have it.
Is that so?
That's our work certificate.
This document allows me to officially have a business here.
And the second certificate allows us to sell food to take out of the cafe.
Those are separate? - Yes places like bakeries and cake shops need it too.
If you were to sell sausages you need another separate document for that.
You need to collect a lot of them!
This is an extra one that we don't allow smoking inside this cafe, here in saitama.
It verifies that all rooms are non smoking rooms.
Now there's a place that you're usually not allowed to see, I'm curious because we're allowed in the kitchen
What do you have to look out for here?
We have to check the temperature for example.
Oh there are thermometers everywhere.
They are there so we can check every day for consistent temperature and that the machines are not broken.
Every fridge has a thermometer.
You HAVE to have them otherwise you can'T do a business in Japan.
Look they are both there.
You have postcards over here.
In Nigata there was a fire, a lot of buildings were suffering.
This warns all businesses that cook with heat to have fire extinguishers.
Is this a machine that lets you stamps time cards? - Yes.
Doest it go PUNCH - It does! Wanna try? - I can?
Put it in. - I will do it now!
It works!
It has the time you checked in on it!
These are the rules from the HACCP examination.
Do you know it? - I don't
It shows in detail how the staff has to act to avoid any kind of food poisoning or contamination.
It has things like the fridge thermometer. Like when and how often to check those.
We have to check the temperature before we start, during the day and after the end.
It also says how to check and that you also need to check all the food.
If something goes wrong, it's also written out for all staff to see and keep in mind.
It's all for the safety of the food for our customers, and to make sure everything goes smoothly.
It says something about reservation? - Yes it's a reminder how to take reservations.
It's a step by step how to talk with the customer to make sure you take all the right details.
There are things like the number of people or how long that are easy to forget right? - Yes.
So you won't forget it on the phone.
Your sink is so big!
The sink definitely has to be separated in restaurants like this.
They have to be.
So you use gas to warm up the water? - That's right.
If it doesn't have hot water, you can't have a restaurant business.
This helps heat the water up.
Thank you for letting us peep into your kitchen - Thank you for coming.
I was surprised how many rules there are. Like that cub boards have to close and such.
I am also surprised how many sinks are in this place. So many rules.
It's to eliminate all kinds of food poisoning from any business.
Japan makes sure that everything is safe with these rules.
It's really important we all protect those rules!
I guess that's why everyone says that Japanese food is very safe and tasty.
One day I wanna job here as waitress for fun. - Sure you can try.
Thank you so much! See you guys!