Akihabara Maids

February 10, 2009 · Posted in Manga / Anime / Cosplay, Tokyo

In Akihabara electric town, a district a bit north of Tokyo and jam-packed with a riot of tech-shops selling all manner of computer gear and accessories, the Akihabara maids roam. Decked out in frilly French maid outfits, wide-eyed and gushingly friendly to perps, they prey on the nerdy ‘otaku’ that inhabit Akiba’s warren of back-streets like level 3 kobolds in a beginner dungeon.

Pretty in pink.

Akihabara has been getting trendy in the past 10 years or so, as Japanese ultra-nerds coming more to the fore of mainstream culture with the international popularity of manga, anime, cosplay and games like final fantasy. The maids play to some medieval urge in these dorks to be treated like a master by a doe-eyed submissive cutie, something impossible to achieve for most of the (probably?) socially inept guys that frequent their ‘maid cafes’.

Rabit ears and bunny ears- very popular.

I’ve never been in a maid cafe, though I glanced into a few when I was doing this shoot. All the ones I could find had big lines of heavy old dudes lined up outside- not a crowd I much wanted to wait with.

Not quite a maid, more like cosplay, but advertising a very similar thing.
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Giving rapt attention to a potential customer.

What is a maid cafe, then? Well, it’s sort of like a hostess bar, but cheaper, and with less of the ‘sex’ allusion and more of the submissive and manga-kawaii thing played up. So what’s a hostess bar then? A bar where you spend money per the time you’re there, get romanced and chatted up by pretty young women who you buy drinks for, and who may, if you persist and offer up big money, be prepared to go off the books with you and take things to the next level.

Young.
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Petticoat.

Is there that seedy side to maid cafes- will they go all the way for the right cash? I don’t know that, I imagine it’s less of a factor than with hostess bars, but I don’t doubt it can and does happen somewhat. Plenty of otaku have cash, and plenty of young women want it.

School-girl type outfit, petticoat.
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Young.

Shooting these girls is the most like a paparazzi I’ve felt yet, not a comfortable experience really. They don’t want to be shot, they turned their backs or crossed their arms in front of their faces. I asked a few to see if getting permission would ease them up, but they said no in no uncertain turns.

Shooting maids as they walk away is easier. This one is probably not properly decked out yet- her kit will be in that suitcase she’s strolling with.
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Making the pitch.
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Demurely closing the sale.

Perhaps they are embarrassed by what they do, and don’t want to be seen in their professional gear touting their wares on the street.

She seems unimpressed.
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Perhaps miserable in this job?
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Panda-head, striding confidently along.
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The archetype, hugely-busted massive-eyed blue-haired aliens.
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She turns to see me, purses her lips, spins around immediately.
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Impeccably put together.

Shooting this final girl I found another guy out with camera, taking shots, which made me feel less bad. I guess there’s truth in the theories of anonymity raising confidence. I used him as a blind, since she was trying to not face either of us, and managed to get the first shot of her head on as she turned from him.

But yeah, felt a little bad, so in the future will try to mostly take shots of people more willingly showing themselves off.

TOKYO

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Comments

13 Responses to “Akihabara Maids”

Chris B says:

February 10, 2009 at 3:34 pm

I feel sorry for them.
their dreams and reality are no doubt, more unlike than they imagined.

Me thinks anyway.

By the way I added you to my Blogroll. Nice site /pictures.
Keep up the good work

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jay says:

February 10, 2009 at 5:24 pm

You have some great shots here. I had trouble getting these photo’s last time I was in Tokyo. They definitely do not like their picture taken. What type of camera setup do you use for this?

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headbang8 says:

February 10, 2009 at 6:16 pm

MJG, you made my day. I love Akihabara. Where Japanese men have tacet permission to do guy stuff, and look what they get up to!

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tokyojesusfist says:

February 11, 2009 at 2:31 am

You clearly realize that they don’t want their pictures taken, yet you do it anyway? Just how much of an asshole are you?

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Jeffrey Armstrong says:

February 11, 2009 at 9:12 am

I think the secret is a long telefoto lens… 200 or something like that… gives you that nice shallow DOF too…

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MJG says:

February 11, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Chris B.- Cheers, and thanks for the link, much appreciated.

Jay- Cheers- using a Nikon d90 and Sigma 70-200mm telephoto.

Headbang- Cheers!

tokyojesusfist- I don’t appreciate your tone or your language- post like that again and I’ll delete it. Your underlying point though, yeah.

Jeffrey Armstrong- I was using a 200mm telephoto, still had to be close enough to be seen though to get tight shots on the face.

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Locohama says:

February 12, 2009 at 8:31 am

Nicely done! BTW, I went to Ikaho (Gunma)over the holiday and I thought of you. They have some great onsen and hotels that have been abandoned. You might want to check them out considering your interests, or maybe you have already. i took a few shots for you and I’ll send them to you in an email. Which email shall i send them to?

Loco

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David says:

February 13, 2009 at 1:27 am

Nice photos. Great emotion. I just cant stand taking photos of people, I know what you mean.

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Alice says:

February 14, 2009 at 5:59 am

Maybe if they knew you weren’t a pervy jerk they would not have been so reluctant to be photographed. I’d say being photographed was an occupational hazard of dressing up like a bunny/maid and being out on the street. Worse things have happened. Plus you have freely discussed how it made you feel and that it was awkward – that is part of the journalism of the piece – alongside their reaction – it gives a better understanding of what is going on and what these girls do/think etc. I’ll be concerned when I see millions of pics of Britney on your pages drinking some Japanese hello kitty style Starbucks concoction!!!!!! But until that day I think this was interesting and informative.

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MJG says:

February 14, 2009 at 11:30 am

Loco- Cheers bud, and very interested in the hotels you mention in Gunma- thanks for thinking of me. I’ve been to a few things up there, but not hotels. Will gratefully receive photos at michaeljohngrist@hotmail.com. Cheers!

David- Cheers, and yeah, it’s awkward, but makes for an interesting study afterwards.

Alice- True, they are kind of asking for it by being out there in costume. I felt a bit stalkerish a few times, especially once shooting a girl who turned away when she saw my lens, I repositioned, she turned back then turned away again. I walked away from her without a shot, too uncomfortable to continue ‘hunting’ her like that. Will we see Britney on these pages? Ha, probably not

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Bouncing Red Ball » A ride through Tokyo Metropolitan Bayshore Route says:

February 24, 2009 at 1:14 am

[...] have a Toyota ist and a Canon 5D Mark II, what do you do? Drive to Akihabara and take pictures of maid girls, right? Well, that’s a possibility. But some guys just mount their 5D on video mode and [...]

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lionel says:

March 2, 2009 at 1:50 pm

if you like maids, try the Akiba Refresh Club. the maids will play Wii with you! he..he..
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/akihabara-maid-refresh-club-from-candy-fruits/

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MJG says:

March 6, 2009 at 12:55 am

lionel- I checked that out, very interesting, thanks for the link.

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