CUTE TOKYO MAIDS IN AKIHABARA CAFES. COSPLAY WAITRESSES IN JAPAN, MAID COSTUMES, WORLD'S STRANGEST THEME RESTAURANTS.
Today, I donned purple lips and fake eyelashes, Sailor Moon hair, and a Victorian maid outfit. Antoine de Caunes and I took “maid lessons” at Cos-Cha cafe and goofed around for French TV (I had to speak en Francais the entire time). I love my job.
Akihabara is famous for its maid cafes, where the cute waitresses dress in skimpy French maid outfits. (Hm, I wonder why guys flock to these eateries?) I photographed about a dozen of them for my Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo book.
Warning: in almost every case, photography is NOT allowed inside maid cafes! I had to get special permission to shoot, usually when there were no customers around.
Why are cameras kinshi (forbidden)? The waitresses and customers want to maintain their privacy (not all of them want to advertise that they frequent maid cafes). Also, the cafes make money by selling decorated photos of the maids to their devoted customers.
You’ll often see girls in maid/cosplay outfits giving out flyers on the streets of Akihabara. Again, no photo! If you try to take pictures of the girls, they’ll turn their backs on you and walk away.
But that shouldn’t discourage you from visiting a maid cafe. The girls are charming and will even spoonfeed you. (Today, we played a disgusting drinking game… you’ll see what went down soon!)
Other maid cafes offer massages and even ear-cleanings. (We filmed a hilarious scene yesterday at an ear-cleaning parlor.)
For more peeks into the odd world of Japanese maid cafes, please consider my book Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (click for info). Photos from the French TV documentary shoot coming right up!
In random news… there’s an article about my Tokyo Theme Restaurants book and Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods TV appearance on FOX NEWS. It’s also on Flash News with a photo. When they say “Transformers-themed diner” in the “nerdy district,” they mean the Gundam Cafe in Akihabara. As my friend Comte de Sang puts it, “Some people seem to think that the US public still cannot fathom any piece of Japanese pop culture that hasn’t been transformed into an Americanized line of children’s toys and adapted into some god-awful Hollywood film by Michael Bay.” Sigh.
Come read my new CNNGo article: Asia’s 25 most ridiculous stress relief products. Japanese fake bubble wrap and girlfriend knee pillows, wahhh?
Have you ever been to a maid cafe? Parlez-vous Français? J’ai appris la langue à l’école… vous pouvez m’écrire en Français, si vous voulez!
Japanese Word of the Day: False teeth = Ireba
Song of the Day: Calmando Qual – Insanity (I’m seeing them live in Tokyo!)
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LA CARMINA
53 Comments
I totally agree, I hate how most Americans won’t accept anything that has to do with japans pop culture, they are to pig headed and wrapped up in their own entertainment that they forget where real Anime and other such great things originated from! :(
I totally agree, I hate how most Americans won't accept anything that has to do with japans pop culture, they are to pig headed and wrapped up in their own entertainment that they forget where real Anime and other such great things originated from! :(
They are ultra kawaiiiiiiiiii~~~ o^__^o
I want a boy maid/or butler to feed me hehehe ^3^
Hahh this weekend, we’re going to a Dansou cafe where the girls crossplay as boy butlers!
unfair…UNFAIRRRRRR. T_________T
I’m tired of people thinking that Americans can’t appreciate Japanese pop culture in its whole and pure form. while MOST Americans might think Japanese pop culture is “weird,” the fact remains, there’s a lot of young and old Americans out there who love it and appreciate it.
… I guess that’s why Fox News carried the article hahah.
I went to a maid cafe when I went to Tokyo. It was called Mononopu and the girls were dressed in purple/pink kimono like outfits with samurai sode and little swords and whatnot. I loved the decor and the atmosphere, and I thought their outfits were super cute (I wanted to steal them right off their backs!) but overall I felt that since I couldn’t speak a lick of Japanese, that it wasn’t as fun as it could have been since they seemed to entertain and talk to their guests.
Only complaints were the smoking, and the food was pretty overpriced. Otherwise it was an interesting experience!
Aww I haven’t been to that maid cafe yet! Each one has its own unique spin on things, how neat. My favorite is still Yukiro’s hibari-tei, where all the maids are men!
They are ultra kawaiiiiiiiiii~~~ o^__^o
I want a boy maid/or butler to feed me hehehe ^3^
I'm tired of people thinking that Americans can't appreciate Japanese pop culture in its whole and pure form. while MOST Americans might think Japanese pop culture is “weird,” the fact remains, there's a lot of young and old Americans out there who love it and appreciate it.
Aww, maid lessons sound like fun!
Ha. Somehow I knew they were talking about the Gundam cafe.
best. post. ever.
:-D
Oh, cet article sur les maid-cafés est magnifique! :) Normalement, je n’aime pas trop les maid-cafés mais les filles sont si jolies!
( I love practising French whenever I can, haha <3 )
Moi aussi… je n’ai pas pratiqué depuis longtemps…
(O_o)WAO!!! 何軒行ったんだ？ 秋葉原メイドカフェ巡り？ (O_o)WAO!!!
Wahhhh! :)
Comte phrased that very well methinks
Je non parle pas francais.
Pero, yo hablo español. ¿Hablás vos?
¡Me alegren todas las doncellas lindas, guapas y sexy de restaurantes! ¡¡Mil gracias para copartir!!
No hablás español..
I love those beautiful, sexy and gorgeous “Restaurant Maids!” Thank-you so much for sharing!!
Aww, maid lessons sound like fun!
Ha. Somehow I knew they were talking about the Gundam cafe.
best. post. ever.
:-D
Oh, cet article sur les maid-cafés est magnifique! :) Normalement, je n'aime pas trop les maid-cafés mais les filles sont si jolies!
( I love practising French whenever I can, haha <3 )
(O_o)WAO!!! 何軒行ったんだ？ 秋葉原メイドカフェ巡り？ (O_o)WAO!!!
Hahh this weekend, we're going to a Dansou cafe where the girls crossplay as boy butlers!
… I guess that's why Fox News carried the article hahah.
Aww I haven't been to that maid cafe yet! Each one has its own unique spin on things, how neat. My favorite is still Yukiro's hibari-tei, where all the maids are men!
Moi aussi… je n'ai pas pratiqué depuis longtemps…
Wahhhh! :)
cool CNNGo article! I’m pretty sure the bubble wrap simulator would annoy my bf though. lol & I don’t need the fake water bottle kitty cuz I gots my real one that sits on my lap all the time =^-^=
I do like that levitating chair though! 0.0 it’s cooool! *haha*
& I think that stress detector u spit on would be neat 2 try.
The article is apparently getting huge hits! Glad people are liking it!
Comte phrased that very well methinks
I want a hot water bottle cat…and bubble wrap popper!
Je non parle pas francais.
Pero, yo hablo español. ¿Hablás vos?
¡Me alegren todas las doncellas lindas, guapas y sexy de restaurantes! ¡¡Mil gracias para copartir!!
These are really cute cafes :) If I will be given a chance I would love to work their :) Hehehe. I really love their cafe outfit! I would love to wear them!
ugghhh… “transformer” themed? … *facepalm*
Yeah… haah
My fav from your CNNGo article are the BabyFeet slippers. They’re so cool. And the bubble wrap. And bamboo charcoal is pretty.
The Baby Feet slippers are a little too effective! The photos of the peeled feet… eww!
cool CNNGo article! I'm pretty sure the bubble wrap simulator would annoy my bf though. lol & I don't need the fake water bottle kitty cuz I gots my real one that sits on my lap all the time =^-^=
I do like that levitating chair though! 0.0 it's cooool! *haha*
& I think that stress detector u spit on would be neat 2 try.
The article is apparently getting huge hits! Glad people are liking it!
No hablás español..
I want a hot water bottle cat…and bubble wrap popper!
unfair…UNFAIRRRRRR. T_________T
These are really cute cafes :) If I will be given a chance I would love to work their :) Hehehe. I really love their cafe outfit! I would love to wear them!
ugghhh… “transformer” themed? … *facepalm*
My fav from your CNNGo article are the BabyFeet slippers. They're so cool. And the bubble wrap. And bamboo charcoal is pretty.
I love those beautiful, sexy and gorgeous “Restaurant Maids!” Thank-you so much for sharing!!
Yeah… haah
The Baby Feet slippers are a little too effective! The photos of the peeled feet… eww!