"Welcome home, Master," is the greeting at the door. But this is as far from home as it gets.
It's not clear why the small, tackily decorated room is stiflingly hot. Or why the overpriced menu contains - among other whipped cream-heavy options - a dessert resembling a cutesy panda face.
But most baffling is the young girl in a French maid's outfit who sits with a balding man, quietly colouring in a picture book.
Welcome to Tokyo's maid cafes, where nerdy men pay top yen to be pampered by girls dressed like the heroes of the anime/manga culture so prevalent in modern Japan.
Customers come to think of particular maids as akin to girlfriends and, the day of our visit, a group brought in birthday gifts for their favourite waitress.
Photographs and touching the dozen maids who flit about the cafe is strictly prohibited.
With the lights on and fizzy drink served in place of alcohol, the cafe has a harmless air - like a children's tea party infused with the sadness of a strip club. (New Zealand Herald)
"Welcome home, Master," is the greeting at the door. But this is as far from home as it gets.
It's not clear why the small, tackily decorated room is stiflingly hot. Or why the overpriced menu contains - among other whipped cream-heavy options - a dessert resembling a cutesy panda face.
But most baffling is the young girl in a French maid's outfit who sits with a balding man, quietly colouring in a picture book.
Welcome to Tokyo's maid cafes, where nerdy men pay top yen to be pampered by girls dressed like the heroes of the anime/manga culture so prevalent in modern Japan.
Customers come to think of particular maids as akin to girlfriends and, the day of our visit, a group brought in birthday gifts for their favourite waitress.
Photographs and touching the dozen maids who flit about the cafe is strictly prohibited.
With the lights on and fizzy drink served in place of alcohol, the cafe has a harmless air - like a children's tea party infused with the sadness of a strip club. (New Zealand Herald)