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Tokyo's fantasy caf Date: 4/29/2005 |
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Tokyo's fantasy caf?s By James Brooke The New York Times FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2005 TOKYO She's the geisha for the comic book generation: saucer-shaped eyes, voluminous black hair, hands demurely clasped in front of the starched white apron of her maid's uniform. For years, Japanese readers of manga, or comic books, and watchers of anime, or adult cartoons, have repeatedly told poll-takers that their No. 1 fantasy figure was the French maid. Now this fixture of modern Japan's rich world of imagination from anime, manga and video games has become real. In Tokyo, on the edges of the Akihabara neighborhood, known as Electric Town for its concentration of electronics stores, real-life versions of these Japanese-styled French maids have stepped off the screens of computer games and into a new archipelago of caf?s and restaurants. "Welcome home, Master!" cry out the waitresses at Hiyokoya, throwing off a seductive cocktail of submissiveness and fertility that Japanese otakus, or computer game fanatics, find irresistible. At Hiyokoya, (81-3) 5812-5909, literally "chick house," the cult of kawaii, or cute, reigns supreme. For the equivalent of about $8.40, the restaurant offers a worldly assortment of lunch dishes: curry rice, pasta carbonara, anchovy pizza or rice bowl with egg. But the real attractions are the French maid waitresses, their black bangs complementing their white lace coifs and black puff sleeves. The walls are hung with French maid sketches. On shelves, bottles of plum wine carry labels with wide-eyed French maids imploring: "Would you mind if I become your partner?" Like all other French maid caf?s in Akihabara, Hiyokoya, which is on the ground floor of the Takao Building on Showa-dori, has a no-touching policy and the sexual tension is decidedly low voltage. But the restaurant does encourage clients - most of them male - to take photographs of the waitresses and to share their thoughts in a scrapbook of appreciative testimonials. In a typical entry, one man wrote: "I really like the new hairstyle of the manager. I will start drinking here." "It was sweet, innocent and nice," said Kirk Johnson, from Denver, after lunch at Hiyokoya. His wife, Chase DeForest, agreed, saying, "I liked the idea of cartoon characters coming to life." French maid fans can also make their way to @home Caf?, on the fifth floor of the Donki building on Chuo-dori, the main shopping avenue (81-03) 5298-3823. There, for about $4.75, a visitor can play cards for three minutes with a French maid - typically, a local anime artist who likes to dress up, according the caf?'s manager, Miha. The dress-up fantasy goes further next door in @living, a living-room style annex. There, for $9.50, a waitress will wear one of several costumes hanging on the rack: Snow White, princess, high school girl, office lady or Santa's elf. Oh yes, they also serve lunch for about $9.50 to clients, largely men, who lounge on sofas: soup, salad and rice or burger, rice and egg. In Japanese, this new genre is called cos-play, short for costume play. The next stop could be Cos-Cha, or costume tea. There, on the second floor of the Isamiya Building, above the PC-Trust store, , about 10 young men sipped drinks one Saturday afternoon in a "classroom," complete with wooden school desks and a blackboard. (Typical libation: tea with lemon for $3.80.) A note, written in chalk, informed us that we should address the waitresses as Angelu-san, or Miss Angel. At Cos-Cha, the blackboard offered a Miss Angel meal (lunch with a drink) for the suspiciously inflated price of $19. At one table of quiet young men dressed in black, two clients ordered the Angel special. But as soon as an Angel started serving, a nearby table erupted in rude guffaws. One young man announced loudly: "We just came to watch the otakus, but this is too much." The Angel showed no sign of being disconcerted. Blowing lightly across a spoonful of stew, she fed her charge, cooing: "Is it too hot, Master?" TOKYO She's the geisha for the comic book generation: saucer-shaped eyes, voluminous black hair, hands demurely clasped in front of the starched white apron of her maid's uniform. For years, Japanese readers of manga, or comic books, and watchers of anime, or adult cartoons, have repeatedly told poll-takers that their No. 1 fantasy figure was the French maid. Now this fixture of modern Japan's rich world of imagination from anime, manga and video games has become real. In Tokyo, on the edges of the Akihabara neighborhood, known as Electric Town for its concentration of electronics stores, real-life versions of these Japanese-styled French maids have stepped off the screens of computer games and into a new archipelago of caf?s and restaurants. "Welcome home, Master!" cry out the waitresses at Hiyokoya, throwing off a seductive cocktail of submissiveness and fertility that Japanese otakus, or computer game fanatics, find irresistible. At Hiyokoya, (81-3) 5812-5909, literally "chick house," the cult of kawaii, or cute, reigns supreme. For the equivalent of about $8.40, the restaurant offers a worldly assortment of lunch dishes: curry rice, pasta carbonara, anchovy pizza or rice bowl with egg. But the real attractions are the French maid waitresses, their black bangs complementing their white lace coifs and black puff sleeves. The walls are hung with French maid sketches. On shelves, bottles of plum wine carry labels with wide-eyed French maids imploring: "Would you mind if I become your partner?" Like all other French maid caf?s in Akihabara, Hiyokoya, which is on the ground floor of the Takao Building on Showa-dori, has a no-touching policy and the sexual tension is decidedly low voltage. But the restaurant does encourage clients - most of them male - to take photographs of the waitresses and to share their thoughts in a scrapbook of appreciative testimonials. In a typical entry, one man wrote: "I really like the new hairstyle of the manager. I will start drinking here." "It was sweet, innocent and nice," said Kirk Johnson, from Denver, after lunch at Hiyokoya. His wife, Chase DeForest, agreed, saying, "I liked the idea of cartoon characters coming to life." French maid fans can also make their way to @home Caf?, on the fifth floor of the Donki building on Chuo-dori, the main shopping avenue (81-03) 5298-3823. There, for about $4.75, a visitor can play cards for three minutes with a French maid - typically, a local anime artist who likes to dress up, according the caf?'s manager, Miha. The dress-up fantasy goes further next door in @living, a living-room style annex. There, for $9.50, a waitress will wear one of several costumes hanging on the rack: Snow White, princess, high school girl, office lady or Santa's elf. Oh yes, they also serve lunch for about $9.50 to clients, largely men, who lounge on sofas: soup, salad and rice or burger, rice and egg. In Japanese, this new genre is called cos-play, short for costume play. The next stop could be Cos-Cha, or costume tea. There, on the second floor of the Isamiya Building, above the PC-Trust store, , about 10 young men sipped drinks one Saturday afternoon in a "classroom," complete with wooden school desks and a blackboard. (Typical libation: tea with lemon for $3.80.) A note, written in chalk, informed us that we should address the waitresses as Angelu-san, or Miss Angel. At Cos-Cha, the blackboard offered a Miss Angel meal (lunch with a drink) for the suspiciously inflated price of $19. At one table of quiet young men dressed in black, two clients ordered the Angel special. But as soon as an Angel started serving, a nearby table erupted in rude guffaws. One young man announced loudly: "We just came to watch the otakus, but this is too much." The Angel showed no sign of being disconcerted. Blowing lightly across a spoonful of stew, she fed her charge, cooing: "Is it too hot, Master?" TOKYO She's the geisha for the comic book generation: saucer-shaped eyes, voluminous black hair, hands demurely clasped in front of the starched white apron of her maid's uniform. For years, Japanese readers of manga, or comic books, and watchers of anime, or adult cartoons, have repeatedly told poll-takers that their No. 1 fantasy figure was the French maid. Now this fixture of modern Japan's rich world of imagination from anime, manga and video games has become real. In Tokyo, on the edges of the Akihabara neighborhood, known as Electric Town for its concentration of electronics stores, real-life versions of these Japanese-styled French maids have stepped off the screens of computer games and into a new archipelago of caf?s and restaurants. "Welcome home, Master!" cry out the waitresses at Hiyokoya, throwing off a seductive cocktail of submissiveness and fertility that Japanese otakus, or computer game fanatics, find irresistible. At Hiyokoya, (81-3) 5812-5909, literally "chick house," the cult of kawaii, or cute, reigns supreme. For the equivalent of about $8.40, the restaurant offers a worldly assortment of lunch dishes: curry rice, pasta carbonara, anchovy pizza or rice bowl with egg. But the real attractions are the French maid waitresses, their black bangs complementing their white lace coifs and black puff sleeves. The walls are hung with French maid sketches. On shelves, bottles of plum wine carry labels with wide-eyed French maids imploring: "Would you mind if I become your partner?" Like all other French maid caf?s in Akihabara, Hiyokoya, which is on the ground floor of the Takao Building on Showa-dori, has a no-touching policy and the sexual tension is decidedly low voltage. But the restaurant does encourage clients - most of them male - to take photographs of the waitresses and to share their thoughts in a scrapbook of appreciative testimonials. In a typical entry, one man wrote: "I really like the new hairstyle of the manager. I will start drinking here." "It was sweet, innocent and nice," said Kirk Johnson, from Denver, after lunch at Hiyokoya. His wife, Chase DeForest, agreed, saying, "I liked the idea of cartoon characters coming to life." French maid fans can also make their way to @home Caf?, on the fifth floor of the Donki building on Chuo-dori, the main shopping avenue (81-03) 5298-3823. There, for about $4.75, a visitor can play cards for three minutes with a French maid - typically, a local anime artist who likes to dress up, according the caf?'s manager, Miha. The dress-up fantasy goes further next door in @living, a living-room style annex. There, for $9.50, a waitress will wear one of several costumes hanging on the rack: Snow White, princess, high school girl, office lady or Santa's elf. Oh yes, they also serve lunch for about $9.50 to clients, largely men, who lounge on sofas: soup, salad and rice or burger, rice and egg. In Japanese, this new genre is called cos-play, short for costume play. The next stop could be Cos-Cha, or costume tea. There, on the second floor of the Isamiya Building, above the PC-Trust store, , about 10 young men sipped drinks one Saturday afternoon in a "classroom," complete with wooden school desks and a blackboard. (Typical libation: tea with lemon for $3.80.) A note, written in chalk, informed us that we should address the waitresses as Angelu-san, or Miss Angel. At Cos-Cha, the blackboard offered a Miss Angel meal (lunch with a drink) for the suspiciously inflated price of $19. At one table of quiet young men dressed in black, two clients ordered the Angel special. But as soon as an Angel started serving, a nearby table erupted in rude guffaws. One young man announced loudly: "We just came to watch the otakus, but this is too much." The Angel showed no sign of being disconcerted. Blowing lightly across a spoonful of stew, she fed her charge, cooing: "Is it too hot, Master?" TOKYO She's the geisha for the comic book generation: saucer-shaped eyes, voluminous black hair, hands demurely clasped in front of the starched white apron of her maid's uniform. For years, Japanese readers of manga, or comic books, and watchers of anime, or adult cartoons, have repeatedly told poll-takers that their No. 1 fantasy figure was the French maid. Now this fixture of modern Japan's rich world of imagination from anime, manga and video games has become real. In Tokyo, on the edges of the Akihabara neighborhood, known as Electric Town for its concentration of electronics stores, real-life versions of these Japanese-styled French maids have stepped off the screens of computer games and into a new archipelago of caf?s and restaurants. "Welcome home, Master!" cry out the waitresses at Hiyokoya, throwing off a seductive cocktail of submissiveness and fertility that Japanese otakus, or computer game fanatics, find irresistible. At Hiyokoya, (81-3) 5812-5909, literally "chick house," the cult of kawaii, or cute, reigns supreme. For the equivalent of about $8.40, the restaurant offers a worldly assortment of lunch dishes: curry rice, pasta carbonara, anchovy pizza or rice bowl with egg. But the real attractions are the French maid waitresses, their black bangs complementing their white lace coifs and black puff sleeves. The walls are hung with French maid sketches. On shelves, bottles of plum wine carry labels with wide-eyed French maids imploring: "Would you mind if I become your partner?" Like all other French maid caf?s in Akihabara, Hiyokoya, which is on the ground floor of the Takao Building on Showa-dori, has a no-touching policy and the sexual tension is decidedly low voltage. But the restaurant does encourage clients - most of them male - to take photographs of the waitresses and to share their thoughts in a scrapbook of appreciative testimonials. In a typical entry, one man wrote: "I really like the new hairstyle of the manager. I will start drinking here." "It was sweet, innocent and nice," said Kirk Johnson, from Denver, after lunch at Hiyokoya. His wife, Chase DeForest, agreed, saying, "I liked the idea of cartoon characters coming to life." French maid fans can also make their way to @home Caf?, on the fifth floor of the Donki building on Chuo-dori, the main shopping avenue (81-03) 5298-3823. There, for about $4.75, a visitor can play cards for three minutes with a French maid - typically, a local anime artist who likes to dress up, according the caf?'s manager, Miha. The dress-up fantasy goes further next door in @living, a living-room style annex. There, for $9.50, a waitress will wear one of several costumes hanging on the rack: Snow White, princess, high school girl, office lady or Santa's elf. Oh yes, they also serve lunch for about $9.50 to clients, largely men, who lounge on sofas: soup, salad and rice or burger, rice and egg. In Japanese, this new genre is called cos-play, short for costume play. The next stop could be Cos-Cha, or costume tea. There, on the second floor of the Isamiya Building, above the PC-Trust store, , about 10 young men sipped drinks one Saturday afternoon in a "classroom," complete with wooden school desks and a blackboard. (Typical libation: tea with lemon for $3.80.) A note, written in chalk, informed us that we should address the waitresses as Angelu-san, or Miss Angel. At Cos-Cha, the blackboard offered a Miss Angel meal (lunch with a drink) for the suspiciously inflated price of $19. At one table of quiet young men dressed in black, two clients ordered the Angel special. But as soon as an Angel started serving, a nearby table erupted in rude guffaws. One young man announced loudly: "We just came to watch the otakus, but this is too much." The Angel showed no sign of being disconcerted. Blowing lightly across a spoonful of stew, she fed her charge, cooing: "Is it too hot, Master?" |
| Source: International Herald Tribune |
