I knew that I would have to take some time out of my two-week Tokyo study abroad/excursion to visit what is called a “maid cafe” in the Akihabara district. The experience is, from what I had heard, very unique: customers are fawned over by impossibly adorable waitresses in maid outfits who ask you to perform a “cute blessing” on your animal-shaped food before you eat it.
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At first, I was somewhat skeptical about going. I wondered if, underneath the cuteness of it all, there was actually an underlying sexual aspect of eating at such a place, similar to going to a Hooter’s. I was vastly wrong; while there may be some guests who derive sexual pleasure from the experience, that is by no means the focus or draw of the concept.
I walked up to the door and was greeted warmly by a maid, who told me how absolutely beautiful I was and that she was so excited to have me. She referred to me as “o-jyou-sama,” or "princess.” Withdrawing a pink walkie-talkie from her apron, she alerted the maids upstairs of my presence and sent me up in the elevator.
The café itself was entirely pink with a spinning disco ball and cute music playing over the speakers. Various people of all types, from girls like myself to businessmen, were seated at the tables wearing fuzzy animal ears. As I walked in, I was rushed by three maids who announced to the room that “a princess is arriving!” and that everyone must bless me with a cuteness spell.
One blessed turtle-shaped green tea ice cream sundae later, I was floating on cloud nine. I was sweaty from Tokyo’s summer humidity and had forgotten to wear a bra that day, but I felt like the cutest little thing that ever existed. I left the café that day with a huge boost in confidence and a complimentary pair of kitty ears.
At that moment, I realized why maid cafes exist.
It’s no secret that humans like to feel special. The Japanese customer service world happens to be quite skilled at doing so; simply walking into a 7-Eleven earns you big smiles and painfully polite language. Maid cafes, however, reside on a whole other level; they are specifically designed to make any customer, no matter their age, sex, or how conventionally attractive they are, feel adorable for an hour or two.
If you speculate that you’ll feel somewhat silly wearing animal ears and saying “gyun gyuuun” over your whiskey soda (or juice, if you’re under 20) before you drink it, you’re absolutely right. However, the warmth of the maids reassures you that you are not out of place. Their tacit message is that you deserve to be here and you deserve to feel like you’re the cutest person who ever existed. No matter who you are: the more you “moe,” the better you’ll be.
