Japanese young people love quiet "silent cafes"

A young lady was sitting alone in a cafe, sipping tea while reading. She paused for a moment, scribbled a few words on the notepad next to her and showed it to the passing waiter. "excuse me, where is the bathroom?"

This is a common sight in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafes". At first glance, these cafes are no different from ordinary cafes, but customers entering the cafe are not allowed to talk and can only communicate by writing on post-it notes.

There are more and more "silent cafes" that customers are willing to keep silent, opening all over Tokyo, attracting a group of stable people living alone in Tokyo, who urgently need such a place to escape the high-pressure rhythm of city life in exchange for a moment of solitude.

The concept of "silent cafes" takes advantage of the growing desire for solitude among young Japanese, exacerbated by economic instability, the transformation of traditional family support models and growing social isolation.

This phenomenon is not limited to cafes, but covers a number of areas. In silent discos, participants wear wireless headphones to connect to DJ, dance alone, and there are items like small desk tents to avoid talking to others in the office.

In addition to these ordinary merchandise services, a company in Kyoto also provides single women with the opportunity to hold "single women's weddings"-customers can enjoy a full range of wedding services and complete the wedding ceremony in a white wedding dress, except for the groom.

This trend also has its own media buzzword: botchi-zoku, which refers to those who consciously choose to act on their own.

On a recent weekday afternoon, thousand fathom Toshihara, a 23-year-old nurse, traveled 90 minutes to Tokyo from her home in Otahara, Kanagawa prefecture, just to enjoy some alone time on vacation.