A bar in Japan which employs muscle-bound young women to slap customers around and carry them in their arms – princess style – is attracting people from around the world.
The Tokyo fitness-themed watering hole, Muscle Girls Bar, is staffed by pumped-up waitresses, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners, fitness influencers, professional wrestlers and actresses.
Customers can exchange Japanese yen for so-called muscle coins to pay for services such as being slapped, kicked, or princess-carried by the waitresses.
The cost of individual services can be as much as 30,000 yen (US$200).
Waitresses crush grapefruits with their bare hands to make the bar’s most popular cocktails.
Patrons can also ride on their shoulders while they perform squats, with charges varying based on the customer’s weight.
One waitress, Maru, who weighs around 50kg, can lift and carry – princess style – a 130kg man.
Bar manager, Hari, a former fitness influencer on YouTube, opened the venue in 2020 after her gym closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A keen volleyball player since her childhood, Hari says she is confident about her slapping strength and technique.
Meanwhile, Hikaru, a Japanese male customer, smiled after being slapped and said: “The pain made me forget all my worries.”
Hari said: “After slapping an Australian customer, word spread, and his friends came specifically for the slapping service.”
A map of the world on a wall in the bar reveals the international nature of its clientele, with visitors hailing from Denmark, Mexico, and Germany, among other places.
Woman customer Samantha Low expressed her admiration for the staff, saying that they break the stereotype of Japanese women being frail and petite.
“I feel very free and liberated in this bar,” she said.
The bar has prompted much discussion on social media.
“Women need to put in more effort than men to build muscle. I admire these muscular girls,” one online observer wrote on YouTube.
“Being slapped is a very unique way to relieve stress,” said another.
Some took a different view: “I can’t understand why anyone would go to a bar to experience physical pain. This is crazy.”
Japan is no stranger to themed businesses, it is also home to maid cafes, laboratory-themed bars and ninja restaurants.
The trend is also being copied in China.
In July, an academic-themed bar in Shanghai gained popularity among young people.
It features DJs who mix music with sociology lectures and offers cocktails named after academic theories.
