Originally, a cafe was a place where people could have meals or drink some coffee. However, as the number of cafes serving more and more diverse items in unique interior settings has increased, cafes now hold a place in the minds of people as cultural spaces presenting unusual experiences beyond having meals or taking a rest.



  The first cafe in Korea appeared in 1902. It was called Jung Dong Club and was located in the first Western-style hotel of Korea, Sontag. At that time, it was a luxurious place, mainly available for some socioeconomically privileged people including diplomats. As time went by, in the 1930s, the coffee shops for the privileged became cultural places where much more of the populace was able to hang out. Furthermore, concerts and exhibitions were often held in the coffee shops. In between the 1960s and 1970s, after the Korean War, many young intellectuals and artists flocked together and had discussions with each other in the cafe called Hakrim Da Bang located in Daehak-ro, Seoul. Also, it was a place that the students of Seoul National University used as a rest area. As is the case now, cafes in the past pervaded the lives of people as appointment places as well as discussion and meeting places. However, with the recent appearance of diverse, unusual cafes, the cafes have expanded their roles as cultural spaces beyond just simple meeting places.



  Recently, various unusual cafes, decorated in noticeable ways, have sprung up in Korea. First, there are VR cafes where people can enjoy VR experiences. Some people want to experience the entertaining VR devices, but it might be burdensome to buy the devices. However, in the VR cafes, visitors can play VR games after paying a small fee and ordering some tea or coffee. VR cafes became more popular than other unusual cafes, so it will be easy to find one anywhere across the country. In Cheong-ju, there is a VR cafe called VR n Joy near Cheong-ju Univ. This cyber cafe with blue and red neon lights has five VR experience spaces.
  Cartoon cafes have also increased and have replaced the role of comic bookstores. Maktoon, near Joong-mun, is one of the cartoon cafes in Cheong-ju. With hourly rates and beverage sales, visitors can read a variety of comic books. Kim Eun-sik, the owner of this cafe, gave a reply regarding how he founded this cafe. He said, “I remembered that I went to a cartoon cafe for the first time around Hongik Univ. a few years ago, and I wished that that kind of place was in my college during my university life. That was one of my motivations to open a cartoon cafe near CBNU, where I graduated from.” 
  Another cafe is a nano-block cafe, where people can lend nano-blocks and play with them.  Hoi-Poi, a toy cafe, is near the Joong-mun area. Park Sun-woo(’12, Dept. of Psychology), who visited this cafe, said, “This cafe has a more casual atmosphere than others, and it was also good to feel childhood nostalgia. These days, kidult (kid+adult) cafes have increased. In my opinion, these toy cafes seem suitable to recent trends.”



  Meanwhile, there are many unusual cafes overseas. Firstly, visitors can take a break by eating hand-made chocolates or desserts and drinking chocolate drinks in 100% Chocolate Cafe in Tokyo. Many visitors come to buy chocolates as presents in addition to the customers visiting to take a rest. In Spain, there is a risk-taking cafe called Disaster. During the time from ordering foods to leaving this cafe, 7.9 magnitude artificial earthquakes are experienced. No casualties have been reported, but it would be a good chance to have an unusual experience. Lastly, in Belgium, there is Dinner in the Sky Cafe, where people can have a meal and tea in the sky. Above 50 meters high, people go up to dine on dishes prepared by three chefs.



  Most franchise cafes that serve coffee, breads, desserts, and light refreshments, such as Starbucks, Pascucci, Ediya, and so on, provide the same interiors and menus. Such unity has the virtue that they give familiarity to customers who visit there. However, the advantage can be a weakness because customers can become bored. Also, the unity of cafes’ interiors and menus limits the possible moods and experiences.
  In that sense, unusual cafes grab the customer’s attention with a differentiation strategy that can’t be found at the franchise cafes. Therefore, customers visit unusual cafes as an indoor dating spot or a place to make memories with friends. Furthermore, most unusual cafes usually have items which are too expensive to buy or rare to find. For example, it takes a relatively short time to read a comic book. If a reader is not an avid fan, it can be a burden to buy comic books, which are about 4,000 won each, because most of the comic book series have a lot of volumes. The appearance of the comic cafes has attracted not only the younger generation but also the middle-aged, who cherish memories of the past. Thus, lots of comic cafes have sprung up.
 The role of cafes as cultural spaces is not only about keeping the essence of being a place to have a light meal or have a tea but also about continuously evolving. Cafes are changing from just meeting places for intellectuals and artists of the past into places where people can get a massage, read a comic and even experience an earthquake. We anticipate the appearance of many more unusual cafes which will have new and exciting themes.

By Min Byung-woo l bw38@cbnu.ac.kr
By You Jin-kyu l jk37@cbnu.ac.kr