"Maid in Japan" cafes treat geeks like lords
By Naomi Tajitsu
Tue Feb 7, 11:02 AM ET
Taken from : http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060207/od_nm/japan_maids_dc;_ylt=AmDdy5QlB8bYFRWMQ0R5lTLtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
TOKYO (Reuters) - "Welcome home, Master," says the maid as she bows
deeply, hands clasped in front of a starched pinafore worn over a
short pink dress.
This maid serves not some aristocrat but a string of
pop-culture-mad customers at a "Maid Cafe" in Tokyo's Akihabara
district, long known as a Mecca for electronics buffs but now also
the center of the capital's "nerd culture."
"When they address you as 'Master', the feeling you get is like a
high," says Koji Abei, a 20-year-old student having coffee with a
friend at the Royal Milk Cafe and Aromacare.
"I've never felt that way before."
Maid cafes dot Akihabara, which has become a second home for
Tokyo's "otaku" -- roughly translated as "geeks." They're known for
their devotion to comics and computer games and can easily be
identified by their standard outfit of track suit, knapsack and
spectacles.
In the cafes, girls dressed in frilly frocks inspired by comic-book
heroines wait hand and foot on customers, mostly male, who might
have once been obsessed with naughty schoolgirls and nurses.
At one cafe, maids get down on their knees to stir the cream and
sugar into the customer's coffee.
At Royal Milk, diners can follow up a meal with a range of grooming
services, including ear cleanings.
Maids at some of the more attentive shops even offer to spoon-feed
customers at their table.
Maid cafes have mushroomed since they first emerged about four
years ago, evolving from cafes where waiting staff emulated
characters from a popular series of role-playing video games, often
dressed in schoolgirl-inspired uniforms.
Shops where computer-generated characters came to life to serve
coffee to gamers have since morphed into establishments serving
customers ranging from teens to septuagenarians.
Akihabara now boasts around 30 maid cafes that cater not just to
male geeks but also to couples, tourists and the merely
curious.
FANTASY ESCAPE
Patronage is also on the rise among young women, some hoping to
snag a geek and turn him into Prince Charming in a real-life
imitation of last year's hit movie "Train Boy," a love story set in
Akihabara that also became a popular TV series.
"These cafes offer a chance for men oppressed in their daily life
to escape into a fantasy world," said social commentator Tomoko
Inukai, adding that the phenomenon hardly helped to promote gender
equality in a largely male-dominated society.
For some of the "maids," who are often as keen on comics and games
as their customers, the job is a kind of virtual world.
"Being a maid is all-consuming," said Hinaka, a maid at Royal Milk
Cafe who goes only by her first name.
"I'm not acting like a maid here, I am one."
Besides serving diners from a menu of inexpensive cafe fare, Hinaka
also offers fully clothed massages, and for 9,000 yen ($75)
customers can chat with her in a private room cluttered with comic
books, character figurines and animation DVDs.
The average age of the maids at Royal Milk is 20, and an appearance
of innocence is a priority.
"The concept of these cafes, where women who are physically and
emotionally immature serve male customers, is not surprising given
the fetish for young women among Japanese men," Inukai said.
Hinaka at Royal Milk gets plenty of stares as she moves around in a
black dirndl-inspired pinafore worn over a white shirt, which is
tied at the collar with a big ribbon that matches her billowing,
short pink skirt.
"Sitting here and admiring how pretty the girls are is like
admiring a flower," said Kinuko Nagahama, a 29-year-old woman
sitting alone at the cafe. "If I were a few dress sizes smaller,
I'd love to work at a place like this."
Hair salons in Akihabara are also cashing in on the trend.
At one such establishment called "Moesham," stylists dressed as
maids give shampoos and cuts to a mainly male clientele not
intimidated by the salon's decor, which resembles the bedroom of a
young girl besotted by hearts and lace.
A few customers even come three or four times a week for a shampoo,
said Yuki Todo, stylist-manager at the shop.
Yasunori Tomita, a 32-year-old salesman and first-time customer,
said, "I don't have a girlfriend at the moment so getting pampered
by maids will have to suffice for now."
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I wonder what will they come up with next 
