BEST MAID CAFE IN TOKYO, JAPAN: AKIHABARA ANGEL & DEMONS. JAPANESE SUBCULTURES, OTAKU ANIME MANGA BAR.
When you’re shooting a travel TV show, you work long hours and run around to several locations a day. Naomi took a few quick snaps of me in front of Shinjuku Temple on our way to meet the Norwegian crew. I’m wearing a flower headband gifted from MyVelcroe.
We brought them to Cafe Pray, an Angel and Demons themed maid cafe in Akihabara. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall that we also took the Dutch Pepsi crew to this maid cafe/bar. Why go back?
Because the orange-haired owner is fabulous, and created this spooky paper ghost with his bare hands!
I showed Ari and Per how to order drinks. First, you call over a cute maid, dressed either as an angel or demon. She tells you her seraphic name and stirs up her signature cocktail. Finally, she’ll serve it with a cute pose and a “nyan nyan.”
I explained to Ari and Per that contrary to popular belief, maid cafes aren’t creepy. Everyone’s here for harmless fun and roleplay.
I walked the TV crew through maid cafe culture. Such as taking Polaroid photos and decorating them with cute designs.
The nails, the angel-kitty-cigarette statue… words fail me.
Unlike most maid cafes, customers are allowed to take photos of the maids inside Cafe Bar Pray.
The maids are delightful, and will play games with you.
I have more photos of the cute Japanese girls in this post. My blog is a behemoth, so if you’re looking for something, try using my Google search box (on the top right sidebar).
Do you think maid cafes are frequently misunderstood, due to the master/servant fantasy play? Would you feel comfortable in an environment like this?
PS: My latest Global Gothic column for Lip Service is published. I interview Lady Aphasia about Milan’s Goth scene. Can’t wait to check out Italy’s darkest haunts.
Song of the Day: Baiser – Angel (An angelic, Visual Kei kiss.)
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LA CARMINA
39 Comments
Ahhhhhhhh I die at the cuteness Carmina! I want to visit so bad!!
im totally wearing a maid dress to my graduation dance.
i want to work there…
The girls always are having so much fun there :)
Ah! *,…..,*
beautiful!
It sounds like thier rule system is a little like the character of Roger Smith’s in the “Big O” anime series. I am impressed! I think an eccentric and idealised place of business is a great thing.
Yes, me too! It’s what I love about Tokyo theme restaurants.
Japanese maids are so cute. ^.^
I always saw it as girls who work your heart rather than your boner. Although I remember somebody describe it as a strip club where the girls keep their clothes on. lol
I find these Japanese maids much more charming!
Ohhhh ~ Love your outfit, it’s very sexy.
;)
Ohhhh ~ Love your outfit, it’s very sexy.
haha great!
haha great!
just right!
I like that place. I also recognised Chu Chu in the photo before last. (^^;
I like that place. I also recognised Chu Chu in the photo before last. (^^;
nyan nyan~ (^^;)
maoo maooo maoooo
I want to go to a maid cafe and it’d be tons of fun.
I could spend all day at this one.
SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE
LOL- it’s all good. Who cares even if it was about the master/servant fantasy? Nothing wrong with that.
PS- absolutely love that headband/bonnet!
Sooo cutesy! kawaii!!!! Yes I do think they are misunderstood as inappropriate (fetish) but I mean Lolita is not about sexy (seducing) it is about being cute! Heck if a Maid Cafe opened up I would go ask for a job!!!
wow! you really travel a lot! I’d love to do that! *o*
AWESOME! Yes, this was totally cap worthy
thanks for your information
i love this place. they opened a spot in Torrance. first one in mainland America!
ee!! i wanted to go to Norway, and now I know about Great Places there!! more to make me want to go there(:
haha actually this is Tokyo… I took Norway TV there.
great pics of the maids..interesting article on the cafe..thanks
Beautiful angels and Demons! i love their outfits!!
I think it’s so weird for western people that they are a bit ashamed to walk in. How I imagine how I would feel walking into an Akihabara Maid Cafe is that I’m excited. A feeling alike to walking into the 18+ section of the local video rental for the first time. Even though it’s innocent roleplay, roleplays will always have slightly an erotic undertone.
My imagination about this feeling could also be because I don’t want to go see girls from just any Maid Cafe. It’s feels quite wrong to me because I’m gay. Therefore I want to go see the girls from Hibari-tei. I read about it in your book: ‘Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo’. It’s an exciting idea to meet drag maids. It combines a drag cafe (which I also have never been to…) and the maid roleplay. I feel it requires some naughtiness to change the shame into excitement.
(PS. In this post I philosophize that shame and excitement are separate things. But I’m not always quite sure about that…)
Want to hear something intriguing? Yukiro aside, most of the drag maids are straight, and have regular jobs during the day time. O_O Dressing up and being part of the drag maid cafe is their space for free, personal expression.
Neat huh?
It’s so weird to hear about a culture where the sexual moral is so different. It sounds so impossible to really believe that most of the drag maids are straight. That could be a reason why western people don’t understand the maid concept. They need to get accustomed with the Japanese morals.
Recently, I read an article about gay travelling in Prague. The authors guide told the author that gay people could also go clubbing in the more straight clubs because the straight people generally don’t mind. And also don’t mind to give in to have gaysex once in a while. I was amazed when I read that.
waaay too cute!!!
took a few quick snaps of me in front of Shinjuku Temple on our way to meet the Norwegian crew. I’m wearing a flower headband gifted
took a few quick snaps of me in front of Shinjuku Temple on our way to meet the Norwegian crew. I’m wearing a flower headband gifted