Maid Cafe

Maid cafes are a staple of Japanese otaku (anime/game/computer nerd) culture. They are also something I thought I would never experience because it would be embarrassing as a girl to go to one (in my opinion). Of course I’ve always been curious to see what they are like though. Well it worked out that I was in Denden Town (the Akihabara of Osaka) with one of my male friends getting new internet for my apartment when he recommended going to one. Since I was with a male friend, I figured it would be less awkward. He took me to one he had been to before called “e-maid” that he considers to be a “tame” version of a maid cafe. By tame he meant that their outfits were more conservative and they didn’t act ridiculous and make you wear stuff or anything weird like that. Basically it was just like going to a simple cafe except that the waitress had maid outfits on and acted really polite.

This is outside of the cafe. I had to get pictures from the
internet because you aren't allowed to take pictures there.

 Of course since it was a maid cafe, however, there were some weird things. Before I tell you about them, I want to explain the maids first. There were about five or so maids. The place wasn’t too big. The cafe itself had a very mom and pop family restaurant feel to it. The maids had on cute maid outfits, but unlike their kinky counterparts, their skirts went down past their knees. They were very well covered. When we were seated at our table, the maid handed us menus and called us “princess” and “master.” LOLOL! The way she moved and hand us things was very slow, dainty, and polite. For example, instead of just setting down chopsticks on the table, she slowly took the cover off of them, gently set it down on our table and then very cutely placed the chopstick on top of the cover. Every time she would leave our table after taking our order, etc., she would slowly do a deep bow. It was really entertaining to me haha! Also, when you need to call a maid to your table, instead of pressing a button or calling her over, you ring this tiny little bell with flowers on it. There are point cards for this cafe, and if you fill it up, you get a member card. If you have member card, you get certain perks. For example, the maids will chat with you more or you can take a picture with them. Stuff like that. By the way, pictures are strictly prohibited inside the cafe. So unfortunately I don’t have any of my own pictures to show you.

So here's a picture of some random guy with the maids that
I found on the internet haha!

So now for the weird stuff. Basically the place was full of single men. There were was maybe one or two couples and two tables with two girls at them. There were no girls eating alone. You could tell that most of these men were otaku, as to be expected. Some people were reading comics, playing gameboys, or using the cafe’s laptops. Others were just eating and watching the maids. It was so funny to see these men interact with the maids. You could tell most of the men had member cards or were regulars because they were getting special attention. When the maids would talk with the guys, many of them would get all nervous and awkward haha! There was one grown man who would just start giggling every time a maid spoke to him. There was one mentally challenged guy in there who kept trying to speak with the maids, but he couldn't really speak comprehensibly. I wondered how even though he couldn't form coherent sentences, he was intelligent enough to know about this cafe and go to it. Perhaps one of the funniest parts was when they started playing the birthday song in the cafe (most of the time they were playing really fancy sounding music). My friend and I laughed out loud when the song got to the part where it says, “Happy birthday dear (name)," because for the name, the person singing in the song just made like a mumbling noise that sounded kind of like “mwah-mwah.” They played the song because it actually was someone’s birthday. The maids surrounded this man and started singing and clapping. He looked so overwhelmed. When they were finished, he got to take a picture with them, and they put a huge hat on his head in the shape of a birthday cake lol.

As for the food, it was simple and good. The great part was that it was super cheap! I got a whole chicken nanban set for 800 yen. It came with soup and bread too.  The bathrooms were really nice. I am kind of interested in going back again someday, although I don’t know if I actually ever will. I’m also kind of afraid but curious to see what a more normal maid cafe would be like where they are more energetic and wearing more revealing clothes. It’s just a really interesting cultural aspect from a foreigner’s standpoint. I don’t exactly agree with it, but I don’t care that much either. Lastly, I am ashamed to say that even living in Osaka for two years, it was actually my first time to ever go to Denden Town. I was shocked to find how similar it was to Tokyo’s Akihabara. There were many game centers, anime stores, and of course porn shops. It was really interesting, and I want to go back soon and explore more and get my nerd on in a game center!

Osaka's Denden Town in Nipponbashi.