OSAKA--The sound of silence is deafening at cafes where customers are not allowed to talk aloud and must place their orders in writing. 

These eateries are "quietly" catching on with those eager to take a peaceful break from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives. 

“Shojo,” one such silent cafe, opened, without fanfare, not far from Osaka's Umeda downtown district in April.

When a customer set foot in the establishment, a worker showed him a palm-size card that said: “No sounds, please.”

Orders at the cafe must be placed by pointing to items on the menu or writing them on a notebook provided at the table.

At least one customer was seen using sign language to communicate with a staffer.

Notebooks at the cafe were lined with “conversations” that workers exchanged with customers in writing.

“Where did you come from?” one dialogue asked. “I am from Kobe,” was the reply.

One page of a notebook contained pictures that customers drew to play a Japanese word-chain game pictorially with one another in silence.

A wall in one section of the establishment was seen covered with nearly 100 stickers on which customers had jotted their impressions of the cafe.

“I was so tense when I entered here, but I am happy I mustered up the courage to do so,” one message said. “I am feeling so lighthearted now.”

“I’ve had a quiet and nice time here,” said another. “Perhaps I will start taking sign language lessons.”

HEARING-IMPAIRED WORKERS

Haruna Matsumoto, the 28-year-old proprietor of Shojo, said she got the inspiration for opening the place from her visit to a silent cafe in Vietnam in 2018, where hearing-impaired people worked.

All she could hear there were the footsteps of workers and the sound of dripping rain.

“I got to know the comfort of silence and the lively way the cafe staff worked,” Matsumoto said. “I developed a desire to have many people learn about both things.”

Many of the 15 employees of Shojo are hearing impaired.

Toya Nakamura, a 20-year-old part-time worker, has a sensorineural hearing loss and is almost deaf in both ears.

Nakamura said he finds the cafe attractive because it allows visitors to “take a break from a stressful society and feel refreshed.”

He relies partly on sign language when he waits on customers.

“I hope this serves as a good opportunity for people to learn about deaf culture casually,” Nakamura said.

Shojo is not the only cafe where silence is de rigueur.

Talking aloud is also a no-no at Cafe Quiet, which opened in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in October.

A plate on the place’s door says: “No conversation allowed.” Products are provided through a small window, so customers never see a staff worker face to face.

Cafe Quiet was opened by a 25-year-old proprietor, who said she is “not good at talking to people,” under the concept of a “cafe where you can be left alone.”

The place became the talk of social media, and the proprietor said she has received letters of gratitude from people saying that they wished there were a cafe precisely like hers.

“I hope my place will allow people to forget about noise in this quiet space and refresh themselves in a respite from society, where you have to be constantly in touch with others,” the proprietor said.

PIONEER OPENED 16 YEARS AGO

“R-Za Dokushokan” (Reading house the R), which opened in the Koenji district of Tokyo’s Suginami Ward in 2008, is believed to be the pioneer of silent cafes.

Faint music and the sound of water circulating in a tropical fish aquarium are the only things that can be heard inside.

Taiki Watanabe, the 54-year-old proprietor of R-Za (pronounced “Ar Za”), said his aim was to create a place that allows you to “break yourself free from the busy reality.”

He said that when customers happen to have entered his cafe without knowing anything about its operation, he speaks softly to them so they will learn to “appreciate” the place.

Given the extraordinary concept, Watanabe initially had no idea how many customers would visit his cafe.

He said he was surprised that people of all ages, young and old, came to his establishment, one after another, in quest of a nook of silence nestled among the busy urban surroundings.

“I am feeling very happy to hear that a growing number of cafes are valuing silence,” Watanabe said. “People do need time for putting their emotions in order and facing up to their own selves. I hope that precisely those who have yet to realize this on their own have an opportunity to try to do so.”