Since the pandemic started, it has gotten many of us being too careful when around other people. Not all face masks are created equally to protect us from COVID-19, wearing one while talking could still have some risk of spreading germs. Most people choose to stay at home in order to avoid infection which made places that used to have face-to-face interactions such as bars and restaurants are now having a new method to bring customers in.
A book cafe bar in Tokyo, where customers can choose to communicate either by talking, or you can just write on a piece of paper. Even the staff who welcome guests by the entrance scribble instead of talk. In Japanese, these types of bars are called “Hitsudan Bar” which means “writing bar,” and it is the only one of its kind in the entertainment and red-light district Kabukicho.
Inspired by the collection of novellas The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron contains hundreds of tales from the point of view of men and women who sheltered in a village outside of Florence to escape the Black Death in the 14th century.
“It is Kabukicho tradition to do this so that the customers aren’t feeling ‘in-between’,” said Tezuka Maki, the owner of Decameron.
“We want to make sure customers are feeling good when they enter and leave our store,” he added.
People are required to wear a mask when they are drinking in Decameron. Customers also have the option to talk with their friends normally but most of them tend to enjoy the unique atmosphere that writing gives them.
Customers order their drinks or food, they write on a piece of paper that the bar provides, and the staff reply to them on the same note.
“Shinjuku’s Kabukicho area has been severely affected by the coronavirus. When Japan entered the state of emergency, fields such as sex work, host and hostess clubs, basically everything in Kabukicho was neglected,” Tezuka said.
“Many people working in Kabukicho were tested even before [it became a coronavirus cluster], to ensure no one was infected. In Kabukicho’s culture, trust and honesty are extremely important. Workers always reported to their boss about who they met, and always took the test. Fortunately, a lot of them were asymptomatic because they are young,” he added.
Tezuka opened Decameron in order to revive the Kabukicho’s reputation and show people that it’s still a safe place for them to have a drink.
Source: Vice