Cure Maid Cafe

Location: Tokyo : Akihabara : Denki-gai Area

Last Visited: August 2006

Following people should go:

- People who want to take a break after long expedition in Akihabara.

- People who want to see the very first maid café.

Costume: Classic English Maid Style/black/long skirt

Total Budget: 500 ~ 1000 yen

Service Charge: none

Time Limit: ??? minutes when cafe is crowded

English Menu: ???

Stamp Card: available

Communication Notebook: not available

Web Site: http://www.curemaid.jp/

Access:

map

Exit from Denki-gai exit at the Akihabara Station, and head to north-west direction. It is located on the 6th floor of the building whose 1st floor is filled with gacha-pon (capsule toys) machines. It is literally “filled”, thus you cannot miss it. Also, they usually have a large standing signboard saying “Cure Maid” right by the street.

Comment:

Cure Maid Cafe is the very first maid cafe in Japan. It originally evolved from Pia Carrot Restaurant, which was the cosplay cafe featuring waitresses dressed in the costumes from the famous dating simulation game series called “PiaCarrot-e Youkoso!! (Welcome to PiaCarrot)”. The game was about love romance in the family restaurant called Pia Carrot, where all waitresses were dressed in cute costumes. This cafe was open for the limited time only, when Japanese schools were in their vacation. It seems it opened three times before turning into Cure Maid Cafe, and once for PiaCarrot-e Youkoso!! 3 afterward. I think I’ve been to the original ones once or twice.

Pia Carrot Restaurant turned into Cafe de COSPA in year 2000. It was permanent cosplay cafe, where waitresses dressed in various costumes. I have been to this cafe once, but I did not like it for two reasons. The first reason was lack of unified theme: girls were dressed in random costumes, which appeared rather unsophisticated for me. The second reason was a type of regular customers. They were mostly camera-kozou (otaku who is dedicated to take pictures of girls like cosplayers and race queens), who was there forever and taking pictures. I felt uneasy being there due to them. Cafe de COSPA closed in 2001, and it turned into Cure Maid Cafe.

Cure Maid Cafe is one of the most professional maid cafes in my opinion. It may be a reaction to its experience back when it was Cafe de COSPA. All waitresses are dressed in a classic English maid costume, and their service is wonderful. The interior is very roomy, and there is no excessive “otaku” decorations like some other maid cafes. Photo shooting is prohibited, and you may not stay over a certain period time when it is crowded. Also, price of foods and drinks are reasonable, including liquors which only cost 500yen per glass. As name indicates, you can relax and “cure” your heart and soul here.

Although, if you expect very “otaku” maid cafe where maids play game with you and act anime-ish, this may not be the place to go. Beside the fact that the waitresses are dressed in the maid costumes, this place is just like a regular cafe.

If you are a tourist, you definitely should go here since it is the very first maid cafe. If you are Akihabara professional, I recommend you to use here as a resting area.

Why did I Start this Web Site Anyways?

The direct cause was the tourists from U.S. whom I met in the maid bar called “Merry Heart” in my first “expedition” in Akihabara after I graduated from the university in U.S. They told me how they could not find a good source of information in regard to the maid cafe on the Internet, thus they had a trouble locating other maid cafes in Akihabara. Also, the maid at the bar brought up to my attentions that some of Japanese web sites list maid cafe along with adult entertainments, which may mislead tourists to undesired places and get them into trouble.

I do not plan to make this web site into an ultimate guide for maid cafes in Japan, but I hope it will give enough information to help non-Japanese-speaking people to enjoy the maid cafes, and get people away from troubles. If you have any questions, I plan to add BBS to this web site, so feel free to post them there.

My History with Maid Cafe

My first encounter with “maid” was back in a high school, which was almost 7 years ago. It was a few years before the first maid cafe emerged in Akihabara. When I attended online chat for a dating simulation game, one of the members, whom I now respect as a ‘master’, told me how people were into “maid” and “family restaurants’ waitress” back then. I guess this encounter was a destiny. For some reason, I got very interested in those two categories. In a few hours, my computer was filled with CGs of characters in maid & waitress costumes.

Since I got so interested in waitresses, the master took me to the PiaCarrot Cafe. Since 90’s, there is a series of dating simulation games called “PiaCarrot e youkoso! (Welcome to PiaCarrot!)”. In these games, the player becomes a part-time worker for the family restaurant called PiaCarrot, and falls in love with its waitress. Cospa, the company who sells cosplay costumes and character goods, borrowed a dual space of Gamers, and turned it into a cafe with waitresses dressed in PiaCarrot costumes. It was open for a limited time only when the Japanese schools were in their summer break. I went to PiaCarrot 2 cafe, which turned out to be my first cosplay cafe experience. I remember how I had a hard time getting used to its atmosphere. I felt very shy to even place an order, not to mention when I asked them if I could take their pictures. At the same time, I was fascinated by the cafe, and I believe I ended up going there twice. Unfortunately, I could not visit PiaCarrot 3 cafe which opened a summer after due to a busy schedule.

Apparently, they were both popular enough, that they turned it into a permanent cosplay cafe. However, it was soon proven to be a mistake. I went to this cosplay cafe once, but it was terrible. The girls were dressed in various costumes without a unified concept or theme, that it appeared rather random and cheap. Also, many camera-kozo (otaku guys who are dedicated to take pictures of girls) stayed there forever without ordering much, which drove off other customers and probably did not leave much money to the cafe. Indeed, the cafe was soon closed down.

Despite the mistake, they did not give up. They reopened a new cafe called “Cure Maid Cafe”, the very first maid cafe in Japan. This time, they did not allow anyone to shoot photos inside the cafe. Also, customers were not allowed to stay beyond certain period of time when the cafe was clouded. They took some time for a sophisticated interior, and all waitresses were well trained and professional. I have been to this place several times since high school, but I think this is still one of the most professional maid cafe in Japan. Indeed, these efforts seemed to have paid off, that it still remains as a famous maid cafe in Akihabara.

After I graduated from the high school, I left Japan to study in the university in U.S. During these five years, a number of maid cafe increased rapidly. There was only Cure Maid Cafe when I left, but I think there is twenty or more maid cafes in Akihabara alone, not to mention a lot more spread all over Japan. I was visiting some of them whenever I came home to Tokyo, but I definitely could not cover all of them during such a short visit.

I felt ashamed for not knowing most of these maid cafes despite the fact I am maid-loving otaku. That is why I decided to assemble a team (usually my friend and I) to visit many of them after I graduated from the university and came back to Tokyo. By now, I think I covered more than a half of maid cafes in Akihabara, and others in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and other parts of Japan.

So, I think now you know how I’ve seen the birth of the first maid cafe, but how I was left behind during a period when the number of maid cafe increased. I am nothing compared to some of other hard core maid cafe fans, but I hope I am good enough to report about them to non-Japanese speaking populations in the world. Please remember that reports that I will post on this web site will be my personal opinions, and not “a word of the god”. ;-p Anyways, I will explain the reason why I started this web site on my next post!

Hello World!!

Hello all. My name is "Future". Japanese "otaku" guy who used to study in Japan.
This blog will be dedicated to send out the hottest(?) & latest(?) information about Maid Cafe in Tokyo, Japan to non-Japanese speaking people in the world. Please utilize this site to find out more about this hottest moe-moe culture in Japan!
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