AKIHABARA IS KNOWN AS THE ORIGIN OF THE MAID CAFE PHENOMENON, BUT IN RECENT YEARS MAID CAFES HAVE SPREAD BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE ELECTRIC TOWN, TO INFEST OTHER PARTS OF TOKYO, AND OTHER PARTS OF JAPAN. There are even maid cafes in South Korea these days, and one could be coming to a technologically minded district of the United States or Germany any time soon. Here is a list of the maid cafes which I know about, which are outside of Akihabara. To find out about the maid cafes which exist in Akihabara, click here.
Candy Maid Cafe: Broadway 3F, 5-52-15 Nakano, Nakano Ward.
Phone: 03/5345 6885. Web: http://www.candy-maid.com.
Recent years have seen an expansion of maid cafes from the busy streets of Akihabara, out into the furthest reaches of Tokyo and beyond. The Candy Maid Cafe, for example, is located at Nakano which is quite far from Akihabara, being on the other side of Shinjuku on the western side of the city. If you are passing through Nakano or have some business in the suburb, you might want to check this place out. It definitely seems raunchy enough from the website. The official store motto seems to be: "We're waiting for your coming", which contains a double entrende the Japanese wouldn't get. Check out that aforementioned webpage, and you might see photos of maids looking like schoolgirls, maids operating hand puppets, and plenty of other wierd stuff!
Open from 7pm to 11pm Tuesday to Sunday.
Filles:
Web: http://filles.run.buttobi.net/filles.html.
The cafe's website claims: "今までにない新しいカウンタースタイルの隠れ家的なメイド喫茶！湯島に誕生！！
メイド喫茶Fillesは、純真なる女の子達が一流のメイドを目指す為のメイド喫茶学院です。当店のメイド達は日々厳しい躾や仕給のレッスンに耐え、毎日ご主人様方のご来店をお待ちしております。"
Purity is supposed to be a prime feature of this Yushima cafe.
It is open from 12 noon to 9pm on weekdays and 11am to 9pm on weekends. For 1800 Yen you can spend 90 minutes inside -- the price includes one drink and use of a mini game. If you happen you pick up a flyer on the street on weekends you can get this price knocked down to 1500 Yen.
Moekko Voice Cafe: 豊島区東池袋１−１３−９
鳥駒第二ビル８Ｆ.
(8th floor Torigome Dai Ni Building, 1-13-9 Higashi Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward.
Phone: 03/6808 4123. Web: http://www.moekko-cafe.com.
All right, this one is very far from Akihabara -- it is in a completely different part of Tokyo, over at Ikebukuro in Toshima Ward. But Ikebukuro is pretty cool in itself and I consider it one of the four main entertainment hubs of Tokyo for young people -- the other three are Shibuya/Harajuku, Shinjuku and of course Ahihabara/Ueno. Ikebukuro is also the student center of Tokyo (in my opinion), and there are loads of cheap restaurants, karaoke joints, darts clubs, you name it. In short if you have time it is worth making a trip to Ikebukuro and while you are there, check out Moekko Voice Cafe. If you have ever been turned on by the pant-like sounds Japanese women make in anime films, this place is for you!
Patrick Rial writes: "Another spot trying to offer something a little different is the newly opened Moekko Voice Cafe in Ikebukuro, which has hired a group of aspiring voice actresses as waitresses. These young women dream of putting their vocal cords to good use in an anime cartoon, and use their jobs at Moekko to hone their skills.
"I worked on one film dubbed from Chinese already," said Izumi, one of the waitresses. "This is a great place for me to practice.
"Every day, the waitresses perform readings from anime series in front of the customers; many have sexual themes, something owner Yuka Hidaka hopes will attract a lot of guys.
"According to Hidaka, one of the most important aspects of any maid establishment is the presence of moe girls.
"Moe comes from the Japanese word moeru, which means 'to sprout'", she explains.
"Moe girls must appear not to be a young girl, but also not yet a woman � like a flower on the cusp of blooming. Sixteen is the perfect age for moe."
Moekko Voice Cafe is open from 5pm to 10pm from Tuesday to Thursday, 5pm to 11pm on Friday, 2pm to 11pm on Saturday and 2pm to 10pm on Sunday.
Tea Room Alice:
Web: http://tearoom-alice.jp.
If Akihabara is the otaku heart of Japan, and Ikebukuro the number two most important area, then Nakano must be the aspiring number three. Nakano, the student stronghold of western Tokyo near my friend Chris Mae's pad in Kichijoji, is the home of this little number, the Tea Room Alice.
Wonder Parlour Cafe:
Web: http://wonder-parlour.com.
Another evocatively named maid cafe, and located in what could be developing as the Second Otaku Capital of Japan -- Ikebukuro in Toshima Ward. As the cafe's website claims: "池袋にあるヨーロピアンクラシックな女性にも大人気のメイド喫茶です。
19世紀の本物のメイドに近いイメージの接客が出来るメイド喫茶として各メディアやたくさんのお客様に高く評価されています。"
