Akihabara... Again, Tokyo 2016

Monday afternoon, we decided we should go back to Akihabara in the daytime. Andrew had over many Skype meetings told us about the Maid Cafes and how they highlighted the weirdness special to Japan. Andrew still hadn't had lunch and his favorite kabobs were nearby.

It's appropriate that Andrew's favorite kabob stand is under a big maid cafe sign.

This is the happiness Andrew experiences when eating a kabob.

Japanese version of a kabob does look yummy.

Akihabara in the daytime- way more fun than at night.

We went to a maid cafe in the Don Quijote building. It's called the At Home Cafe because they pretend you're coming home and they are your maids. Techinically, you're not allowed to take pictures in a maid cafe but this is strange because there are maids promoting the cafes in the street, and because there are promotional videos on youtube.

Maid from some other cafe

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Picture of Andrew's coffee (bear) and mine (me) at maid cafe. Maid in background. 

Maid cafes are extremely difficult to explain. They focus on the art of kawaii or cuteness. They cater to lonely men, young silly girls, and confused tourists. Some of the lonely men converse with the maids or play the occasional game of Connect Four with them. The maids serve you drinks and then cast spells on them. Tourists pay extra for pictures with maids. In a creepy twist you pick your favorite maid off a menu and pictures with highly requested maids cost extra. You take these pictures on a stage so that everyone at the cafe can watch your kawaii shame. I did some soul-searching and for the first time I passed on a picture opportunity. For further explanation (why would you need more explanation?) I'm embedding a youtube video:

You might experience disorientation after this- especially if you're a New Yorker.

We decided to round out our second Akihabara visit with a FuRyu photobooth. We found one in the basement of an arcade. You take some pictures which the machine automatically photoshops- giving you makeup and bigger eyes so if you're a Westerner you look a little alien-like. Then you have additional editing choices when you exit the booth like backgrounds, text, and stickers. However all the editing had Japanese directions so we gave up after a while.

Kevin and Andrew in the arcade.

We got a purple heart background on this one.

But we couldn't figure out how to decorate this one. Except for the floor.

Trying to use the editing machine.


Examining the finished result in the photobooth area.

Finally it was naptime! (Or Sunday night bedtime in the US, depending on your point of view.)