Maid in Japan

It's no secret that Tokyo has a lot of really out-of-the-ordinary things to bring to the table. From ramen-hamburgers to stores that sell nothing but lightbulbs, go anywhere in Tokyo and it won't be hard to find something that definitely can't be found back home. Last week, a few friends and I set out for Akihabara (秋葉原), the electrics/anime geek district of Tokyo, in search of one such oddity.

My drink with a picture of Doraemon drawn on it.

Our target: a Maid Cafe. That's right folks, you've heard of internet cafes, you've heard of tea cafes, you've heard of cafes that sell double-iced-cream-mocha-frappu-espresso-coffee-cinnos, but I'm guesing you haven't heard of a cafe in which every employee is wearing a maid costume.

To be honest I wasn't entirely sure what to expect beyond that. The idea of being served by only women in maid costumes leaves all kinds of room for strange, creepily sexualized nuances. however, that was not the case. Everything was just cute. Really frickin' cute. The walls were made purely of polka dots, high-pitched voices filled the air, and drinks had little faces drawn in them with syrup. What's more, customers can even play card/board games with the waitresses, and get their picture taken together. My friends and I opted to mostly just sit and take in the atmosphere (while sipping our face-drawn beverages). Not gonna lie, this place was so cute that it hurt.

One thing that this definitely confirmed: Japan does a lot of things well, and a lot of things poorly, but there is no question that it has cuteness down to a science.