O, the bizarre world of Japanese maid cafes! Since I photographed and wrote about the phenomenon in my Tokyo Theme Restaurants book, the Dutch Pepsi TV show wanted to shoot at an Akihabara cosplay cafe. Naomi and I made arrangements with Cafe Bar Pray, a newcomer with an Angels and Demons theme.

Here, half of the servers are innocent seraphs, and the rest are devilishly cute temptresses. Which side of the counter would you sit on?

Naturally, I chose the dark side. My outfit theme was Evil Queen Step-Mother.
Long trailing Goth dress: gifted from Lip Service
Victorian tulip choker: gifted from Yifat Aharoni
Long lace gloves: Spider, Hong Kong Lolita brand
Hair clip: Daiso

I bonded with the cafe manager, Tamao, over our orange hair. He’s a pro at mugging for the camera.

The adorable “Raphael” is the number one maid in Akihabara. (Yes, there’s an annual contest for Japanese maids!)

Each maid has a fake name, age (most are hundreds of years old), and rank in the heavenly hierarchy. Pick your favorite. She’ll give you her name card and prepare her special cocktail.

The maids charm the customers with games, skits, and light-hearted conversation.

Cafe Bar Pray is my new favorite. You’re allowed to take photos inside, the decor is swanky, and there’s a relaxed, anything-goes atmosphere. A nice change from the typical tense otaku hangouts.

The Dutch TV host, Bo, got dolled up like an angel.

We taught her how to make cute poses and decorate Polaroid photos for her admirers.

Can you guess who was our favorite customer-boy?

At Cafe Bar Pray, it doesn’t matter if you choose good or evil. You’ll be smiling from the moment the girls greet you with “Yokoso!”

The Dutch Pepsi TV shoot was great fun. Don’t forget to check out my behind-the-scenes photos and videos in this and this post. There’s more madness to come.

Have you ever been to a maid cafe? Would you want to visit one? Which angel or devil is your favorite?

Japanese Word of the Day: Kokuren = United Nations
Song of the Day: Era – The Mass (Carmina Burana and Gregorian chants meet dance beats!)