Yahoo LifestyleDining Alone? No Problem, Here's A Moomin To Keep You Company
As if going to a restaurant by yourself wasn't scary enough already!
Table for one please!
Oh, and a seat for my stuffed friend with the big eyes.
There's a new trend growing popular in Japan.
Solo diners needn't worry any more about the perils of eating alone - they now have the option of sharing a table with Moominpapa, Moominmama or Moomin himself.
Because that's not weird at all.
The Japanese are famed for their their creativity, especially when it comes to animé and cute children's culture.
They can't actually claim responsibility for The Moomins cartoon series, as it was originally a Scandinavian product, but for some reason it struck a chord over in that part of the world.
Perhaps it's because the Moomins look a tad like another popular white, pointy-eared Japanese creature.
Just a guess.
The Moomin Cafés are a franchise that have sprung up recently in the country's capital, Tokyo.
If you stumble into one of these joints for a quick croissant and a glance at the paper, be prepared to face the fixed stare of two large eyes over the top of your reading material.
Servers at the Moomin Cafés are the matchmakers between customers and our hippo-like friends.
There's only one problem with this scenario, if you ask us.
The Moomins television show was remarkably creepy!
As any child-viewer will tell you, the Groke - the villain of the show - is one of the scariest to have been invented.
It appears suddenly, slipping between freeze-frames, breathing heavily and killing everything it touches!
The moomins are often to be found frantically barricading themselves into their own house in fear of The Groke.
[B-Style Babes: Japanese Women Adopting The Black Lifestyle]
[The Disgusting Handbag Confessions Of Real Women]
Also, it doesn't help that the Moomins themselves have no mouths.
How are you supposed to eat while sitting opposite a creature that is mournfully jealous of your ability to stuff your face with cake?!
