Let’s go to maid cafe

Japan has a unique world called “maid café,” where customers play a role of a master of the house, and Japanese girls who wear maid outfits serve the master when they “return home.”

“Cure Maid Café” in Akihabara opened the first maid café in March 2001, and as the café got its popularity, similar cafes started opening even outside of Akihabara. The common phrase “okaeri nasaimase, goshujinsama” (Welcome home, master) was created by “M’s Melody,” a maid café in Nagoya, and it was spread to all over Japan. Indeed, maid cafes are the new kinds of business created my otaku culture.

Maid cafes nowadays were developed and can be classified into three types. The first type of maid cafes is called “kurakaru-kei,” where customers can relax while eating and drinking. The second one is entertainment, where customers can enjoy meals, chat, take photos, and play games with cute maids, and so on. Recently, the new types maid cafes that are like bars or izakaya, and Japanese maids are increasing.

The budgets depend on each café, but usually, the cover charge is 500 yen for one hour, and customers pay for what they order in the café. On average, drinks are 1,000 yen and meals are 2,000 yen. Maid cafes prefer to be paid with cash. It may be the best to stop at Sakura Currency Service that offers the best rates and go to maid cafes.