Cosplay Restaurants
Filed Under (Anime Show in Japan, cosplay accessories) by admin on 24-08-2010
Tagged Under : Cosplay in Akihabara, cosplay restaurant in japan, costume play cosplay, otaku culture and cosplay in Japan
Cosplay is a contraction of the English words ‘costume’ and ‘play’, which has originated in Japan and essentially means play acting in costumes. Cosplay Restaurants follow a specific theme to increase their customer satisfaction. The idea of a Cosplay Restaurant first came into existence in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan around the year 1999 and have now rapidly become the staple of Japanese ‘Otaku’ culture wherein people have obsessive interests in animation originated in Japan (anime), comics and cartoons in Japanese language (manga). The main themes of such restaurants are ‘Maid Cafes’ and ‘Butler Cafes’ where the staff dress up in elegant uniforms and treat their customers as masters and mistresses in order to make them feel at home.
Usually in a maid café the waitresses who are referred to as maids are dressed in a combination of French maid-styled uniforms which are at times augmented with cat or bunny ears. Most of the personnel are female who are accustomed to behave in a cute and friendly manner. The maids make sure that every customer is greeted with an astonishingly humble welcome and take extraordinary care to pamper their patrons. In order to enhance the chimera that the customer is indeed the master, they provide services of deferential fashion. For example, the maids occasionally kneel to mix sugar or milk to teas or other drinks. The key objective of such service is to make the customers feel at home and to lighten up. Nowadays even services like ear cleaning, foot or hand massage, photography sessions with the maids are also becoming popular.
Unlike the maid’s café, the butler’s café was opened in 2006 which was designed for the women who required some kind of fun and excitement in their day to day workaholic lives. The employees of such themed restaurants are good looking and handsome men who dress up in either waiter’s uniform or tuxedoes or like school boys. Such cafes provide therapeutic place for women at affordable prices. They try to create an ambiance reminiscent of a fairy tale. The butlers treat their guests who are usually ladies like princesses by opening doors, taking their coats, presenting tiara to them along with the menu, and a special ‘lift up photo’ is also provided where the customer can be lifted by any butler of her choice for a picture.
Other themes include school themes where the customers are referred to as senpai which is similar to the western concept of mentor, and instead of tables, school desks are used and the menu is served in trays alike to the ones used in Japanese schools. Then there is the little sister theme wherein the waitresses in costumes role play as customers ‘always wished for like’ younger sisters, shrine girls and railways themes are also fairly famous.
Cosplay Restaurants which were once considered to be a fringe movement has slowly but definitely established its roots around the world specially in countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Mexico, Canada and North America etc.




