Maid in Japan – and Culver City

I find Japan’s pop culture fascinating.  From the wild outfits in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, to the obsession with Hello Kitty, to the paintings and sculptures (and pricey Vuitton handbag line) of Takashi Murakami, there’s such an array of color and childlike wonder.  It’s all great stimulus for the creative process. It’s so…foreign. And way cool.

Traveling to Tokyo several times on business (I’m the one on the left), I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of it up close and personal. 

And now, there’s a restaurant in Culver City, California that brings to these shores a popular Japanese concept called “Maid Cafes”. Originating from characters from a popular video game, then morphed into actual cafes with servers dressed up as maids, the cafe offers up tea and Japanese-style crumpets to guests.  In Japan, these guests are mainly “otaku” (nerds); young, single, male gamers who frequent these establishments to get some attention and kindness from the pretty, young maids. 

I would imagine here in the U.S., the patrons of the local Maid Cafe will be more of a mixed bag   – they’d better be, or its future will be painfully brief.  As this is pretty faddish, and pretty “out there” for a restaurant concept, who knows how long it will be around. Some things really do get lost in translation.

But in the meantime, it’s kitschy enough to attract the initially curious.  I, for one, would love to check this place out the next time I’m in the SoCal vicinity.   Kanpai!