Pierrot Harbour, Osaka

Cafe? Restaurant? Performance space? Studio? Who knows.

Por Cherie Pham

Community writer

Pierrot Harbour: a quirky space under the tracks of Nakatsu Hankyu station

A mishmash of theatre, film, cats, chairs...

Dedication to classic 'clowns' at the Harbour.

Come for the craziness, not for the food.

To top off the surrealism, an unnamed animal playing a closed piano.

See Charlie? You've reached Pierrot Harbour.

Between Juso and Umeda lies a very surreal scene. I discovered the area under Nakatsu station on the Cycle Osaka tour. The mystical world of Pierrot Harbour sits opposite a huge mural of Charlie Chaplin with glistening eyes, so shiny I wouldn't be spooked if tears rolled down the brick wall. Following the tears of a clown leads you to the performance space/ studio/ cafe/ restaurant/ all-together bizarre warehouse, Pierrot Harbour. I confess I staged a dinner here just to get some snaps of the inside (the clown town caterers aren't too keen on free photography). The mediocre food was masked by the utter craziness of the decor and choice ornaments. Come and witness this trippy clown habitat, just minutes away from busy Umeda, to see local thespians in musicals, join a Bollywood dance class or shamelessly ogle at the weirdness.