• What is a maid café?

    Maid cafes are an example of a new type of business, called “effective economics.” Effective economics centers on inviting a customer into a brand community. This allows customers to become emotionally engaged with a brand or product and feel protective of that brand (Jenkins, 2006). Think about one of your favorite fictional characters and how emotionally attached you feel toward that character and story.

      That is effective economics at work. Are you a sports fan? Does that loyalty drive you to buy stuff with the team logo? Does that loyalty make you want to watch every game? That is effective economics. It is rooted in a deep emotional attachment toward a brand that is supported by social networks. In other words, you like the stuff because people around you think it’s cool too. Maid cafes are built upon customer’s effective attachments toward the fictional characters the servers create.

       While the cafes sell food, photographs, and other products, customers mainly pay for the ability to interact with the maids. Maid cafes also offer entertainment such as photographs (hence the rule about no personal cameras), tabletop games, card games, and other activities with the maid. Maid cafes are related to the famous Japanese tea houses and their geisha. Both the cafes and tea houses sell fantasy and relationships. Geisha and maids both converse with customers and provide a social link a customer may not have otherwise.

     Granted, maid cafes turned these interactions into commodities more than tea houses. Both geisha and maids are paid to provide social interaction, conversation, and other social needs. Affective economics focuses on how social and emotional ties are developed between people and products. Both geisha and maids sell a branded version of themselves that packages their time and interactions into a product. This seems a bit crass, but social realities are changing. (Chris Kincaid, “What are Maid Cafés”)

 

• Is working in a maid café sexist and wrong?

No, most maid cafes have strict rules that seek to avoid sexual advances, lewd behavior, and other problems. Although, this suggests such behavior was a problem in the past. The outfits seem tailored for men’s fantasies. However, the maid outfits in most maid cafes are closely related to Lolita fashion. Lolita came out of a backlash against women feeling forced to dress in ways men favored. Female sexuality was expected to be accessible and match the taste of men. Lolita takes these expectations and embraces femininity to the extreme: lace and bows and other things considered feminine. Maid dress in the same way.  Lolitas dress the way they do because they enjoy it. This also goes for butlers also.

 

• What happens when maid/butler quits?

Upon “graduation”, when she quits or is fired, a maid has a special event that includes a small circle of regular customers. Graduation marks the last time she will be seen in costume and character. Customers buy tickets to take part in the event, which varies by the maid. The event is often emotional. It is a turning point and marks the end of the relationship between the maid’s character and customers. Basically, the event marks the death of that maid’s character.

 

• Are there ‘cover charges’ in Maid Cafes?

Yes, there are cover charges, this would include one main dish, drink, and dessert for a 30min time slot. Any pictures, games, songs, or other activities are extra. Anything over 30 mins, the customer will be charged half the ticket value by the hour.

 

• Are women allowed in Maid Cafes? Or are there any which is better for women?

No, everyone is allowed. We have maids and butlers, and the customer has a choice on who they want their server to be. But it is first come first serve unless there is a reservation or special event.

 

• What to expect in a Maid Cafe? Dos and don’ts?

Maid cafés do not have any special rules on behavior. The behavior you use in any regular restaurant will be fine. The girls will usually try to talk to you. Try to keep the conversation clean. Small-time flirting is okay but will make you look like an ass. They get that all the time and it just annoys them. Customers can look, and will more than likely do that, but not touch. Although the maids and butlers are playing off certain otaku and cosplay characters, there is still no form of ANY sexual behavior at all!!! It is best to think of it as a fun and unusual setting and nothing more.

 

 

To read more about maid cafés and the otaku community please look at the following links:

Kincaid, C. (2015). What are Maid Cafes? Japan Powered. https://www.japanpowered.com/otaku-culture/what-are-maid-cafes

 

D’Anastasio, C. (2013). Parfaits not perverts: inside NYC’s first ‘maid cafe’. http://gothamist.com/2013/11/11/she_just_took_my_empty.php

 

Galbraith,P. (2013): Maid cafés: The effect of fictional characters in Akihabara, Japan, Asian Anthropology, DOI: 10.1080/1683478X.2013.854882.

 

Hochiman, D. (2008) Service with a wink to a Japanese Fad. The New York Times.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/dining/25maid.html?_r=2&

 

Jenkins, H. (2006).Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.

 

Kawahara, S. (n.d.)The phonetics of Japaense maid voice I: a preliminary study. Rutgers University. http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~phonetic/pdf/Kawahara-Onin16.pdf

 

Levenstein, S. (n.d.)Maid cafe code of conduct chastises creepy clients. http://inventorspot.com/articles/maid_cafe_code_conduct_chastises_creepy_clients_18430

 

Mounteer, J (2014). What it’s like inside a Japanese maid cafe.Matador Network.http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/like-inside-japanese-maid-cafe/