Maid cafes are one concept known around the globe that’s synonymous with Japan’s otaku fandom and subculture. No where else will you find the whimsical flair and eclectic essence that maid café offer in a world that is truly all their own.
We’ve hand-selected a number of tips and no-frills pointers to put in your back pocket, sharing some of the best ways to try and love the Akihabara maid cafes, even if it’s your first time.
From details about services and what to expect to cost, budget and more, buckle in for the local guide that’s loved by global travelers. By the end, you’ll know just what to pick for a café experience that’s fit to you.
Table of Contents
- What are Maid Cafes Like?
- Three Best Ways to Enjoy Maid cafes in Akihabara
- Four Café Styles in Akihabara to Know before you Choose
- How Japanese Choose Maid Cafes: Tips to Follow If You're Unsure
- First-time Friendly: New and Trendy Maid Cafes to Try First
- Frequently Asked Questions about Akihabara's Maid Cafes
- Wrap-up
What are Maid Cafes Like?
At maid cafes you’re in for the most deluxe trappings and exuberant mansion-like living where you’re the head master or madam with staff in waiting.
You’ll know you’re here because once you step in you’ll be greeted in title as “master” or “madam”.
For the warmest of welcomes, that means the first thing you hear even as a first-timer is “Welcome home” instead of just welcome, and as you leave a gentle “see you soon” in place of “goodbye”.
Baseline service at a maid café is the gift of magic spells cast over your drink of choice or a little bit of extra love with handmade drawings on your food.
The draw that keeps people coming back to maid cafes is knowing they’re in for a sense of extraordinary play in a bubble of albeit staged by safe space. While these cafes exist across Japan just like any other eateries, Tokyo's Akihabara district (nicknamed "Akiba"), at the heart of otaku culture, is considered the holy land of maid cafes.
In recent years, maid cafes themselves have taken up a new strain of styles and concepts meaning there are even more unique worlds to explore.
Maid Cafe Pricing System and Cost Range
Many maid cafes charge by time with a minimum one drink order to enter. Below is a breakdown of about what to expect for pricing.
- Entry Fee (hourly fee)
- 500 yen - 1,000 yen
- Soft Drinks
- 600 yen - 800 yen
- All-original Drinks
- 800 yen - 1,500 yen
- Alcohol
- 800 yen - 1,500 yen
- Food (e.g. omurice omelettes, hamburger steaks, etc.)
- 900 yen - 1,800 yen
- Desserts
- 900 yen - 1,500 yen
- Entertainment (Photo Sessions, Live Performances, etc.)
- 700 yen - 5,000 yen
Expect to budget for a minimum spend of 1,500 yen (entry free + one drink) or up to 3,000 and over if you plan to try full meal and services.
If its your first time, you may want to check out the “tutorial” set or a similar crash course to start. As a general rule, the overall pricing will vary based on the style café or which particular spot you choose.
Once you’ve found one that strikes your fancy, be sure to check their official website upfront for individual pricing.
Rules to Know Before Swinging by a Maid Café
Maid cafes are portals to fun, but be sure to check these rules below to get the most of it. Here are some common, blanket rules to know:
Main Rules at Maid Cafes
- No unauthorized photos of the maids
- No physical contact with maids
- No entry permitted while intoxicated
- No soliciting maids for personal information or about their private lives
- No loitering outside café or accosting maids as they leave
- No exchanging contact information with maids
- No harassing or slandering maids
- Any behavior that makes the maids or other customers uncomfortable with not be tolerated
Most of these rules are basic common sense, but just remember general public respect and decency to ensure the most fun of times.
There may be additional rules to note at different spots but the maids will let you know at entry so you’re never surprised.
Be sure to listen for or ask if you’re unsure of anything but definitely don’t veer off from the café rules!
Japanese Phrases to Know for Enjoying Maid Cafes
Maid cafes often use unique Japanese phrases not typically heard in other restaurants or facilities.
One prime example is the iconic maid line, "moe moe kyun".
This phrase is a magical charm maids utter to make food and drinks taste better when ordered.
Moe
- Word in Japanese
- 萌
- Meaning
- A slang for general feel good vibes
- Usage example
- (Looking at a maid) Moe~
moe
萌
Kyun
- Word in Japanese
- キュン
- Meaning
- The feeling of your heart fluttering
- Usage example
- (Seeing a maid's smile) Kyun desu
kyun
キュン
Goshujinsama
- Word in Japanese
- ご主人さま
- Meaning
- A slang for general feel good vibes
- Usage example
- (Upon entry) Welcome home, Goshujinsama
Ojousama
- Word in Japanese
- お嬢さま
- Meaning
- Female customers at a maid cafe
- Usage example
- (Upon leaving) Take care, Ojousama
o zyou sama
お嬢さま
Okaeri nasai mase
- Word in Japanese
- おかえりなさいませ
- Meaning
- Welcome home
- Usage example
- (Upon entry) Welcome home!
o ka e ri na sai ma se
おかえりなさいませ!
I tte rasshai mase
- Word in Japanese
- いってらっしゃいませ
- Meaning
- Upon leaving
- Usage example
- (Upon leaving) Take care!
i tte rasshai mase
いってらっしゃいませ!
You can get in on all the fun by checking out some of the Japanese key words below beforehand.
We’ve handpicked a few savvy phrases to know below!
Term | Meaning | Usage example |
---|---|---|
Moe | A slang for general feel good vibes | (Looking at a maid) Moe~ |
Kyun | The feeling of your heart fluttering | (Seeing a maid's smile) Kyun desu |
Goshujinsama | Male customers at a maid cafe | (Upon entry) Welcome home, Goshujinsama |
Ojousama | Female customers at a maid cafe | (Upon leaving) Take care, Ojousama |
Oshi | Fandom topics you love to cheer for ※ Close to admiration or endorsement | Who is your Oshi? |
Three Best Ways to Enjoy Maid cafes in Akihabara
Here are some practical tips for the best of smiles and fun niche vibes at Japanese maid cafes.
As a note, not every maid café will offer the below.
1. Enjoy the Unique 'Moe' of Otaku Culture
If it's your first visit to a maid cafe, getting to know 'moe,' a hallmark of otaku culture, is highly recommended. While you can get a sense of the world just by being in the cafe, taking part in services and events can enhance your experience. Services and events where you can feel 'moe' include:
- Magic Spells
- A maid-special love spell cast over any food or drink you like to make them taste even better (“getttt tasty!!”)
- Drawing & Doodling
- Maids draw animals or anime characters on your latte or omelet rice, with requests possible.
- Cheki (Instant Photos)
- Choose a maid for a commemorative photo together (solo shots also available).
After discussing items and poses, photos are taken on stage.
Maids will draw on the photo before presenting it to you. - Live Performances
- When you place an order with a specific maid, she will perform karaoke or a dance performance on stage.
(Customers can enjoy cheering with a special fan).
※ Songs available to maid may vary.
2. Intricate-world building and the best of niche vibes to see.
Some maid cafes go above and beyond with world-building. Step in to join in all the fun and spend a few moments forgetting time away from reality. With so many to try, we’ve listed a few samples below.
Concept | World (Setting) | Highlights |
---|---|---|
Magical Girl (Apprentice) | ・Run by apprentice magicians・The café is their kingdom in a quest to become great magicians. ・Customers are greeted as "brave heroes" | ・Thrilling sense as if you walked into an RPG game・Cuter outfits than maid uniforms. |
Dolls | ・Run by doll-dressed staff・Especially eager as they await your “return”・ Elegant styling and presentation | ・relaxed and calm ambiance・Extremely intricate uniform designs to admire |
Fiction-related | ・Run by fantasy demigods in human form for a day. ・They serve to gift something to their human guests. ・All-original characters. | ・Futuristic feel・Intriguing blend of niche subculture and uber-cute vibes. |
Reincarnation in another world | ・ Maids reincarnated from another world to run the cafe・Working to return to their original world・Filled with fantasy elements like summoning and gates | ・A world inspired by the 2D dimension unfolds. ・Even within the same theme of reincarnation in another world, each store has a different concept. |
Besides these, there are various other types like Chinese-themed or school-themed, allowing you to physically feel Japan's subculture through their uniquely crafted worlds.
3. Sample different maid cafes with different concepts and styles.
The world of maid cafes is one that deserves an especially deep dive.
With so much variety the ways to enjoy are each their own, but making sure to let go and taking it all in for what it’s worth is what makes each visit so fun.
You might even shy away from words like “moe” and “kyun”.
However the fun for maids is creating a world that you can enjoy too, so forget everyone else and have a fun time with the performance.
Let go of all your nerves and soak in the full experience, or dive in by choosing your favorite plate or service to try.
If you have the chance to sample a number of different cafes you’ll start to see what makes each one so amazingly unique.
When in Japan, dig in and dive deep while enjoying the many extraordinary cafes to try.
Four Café Styles in Akihabara to Know before you Choose
Swing by Akihabara to find some 200 maid cafes that line the street, all with a different look and feel depending on which you choose.
To find the perfect spot to taste, you won’t want to miss knowing a bit more about the different styles to try. Here are four styles below to help you take a deeper dive.
1. Beginner-friendly! Maid cafes with a cafe style
The cafe style is a type of maid café, or “maid parlor” that works as an extension of a regular café or coffee shop.
Step inside to find wall-to-wall retro vibes and maids dressed in classic outfits like long black skirts and white aprons. Here the maids are not really there to interact, but as a trade off your time is not charged or limited.
The focus in these types of maid cafes are the coffee and homemade meals, with many items averaging a pricetag around 1,000 yen.
As the many veteran patrons know, the elegant atmosphere and demure grace as the maids move about make for an especially relaxed and calm space to kick back in. This is an excellent spot to start if you want to try a maid café without the extra world-building.
2. Enjoy the Classic Fun! Maid Cafes with an Entertainment Style
The most famous type is the highly stylized “moe” cafes, which lines up more closely with what people expect from TV and anime.
Fares here typically range from 1,500 to 3,000 yen, in line with estimates above.
Maid outfits vary by cafe but are often accessorized with ribbons and headbands for an extra dose of “moe”.
If this is your café of choice, keep an eye for the moe moe kyun spell cast on food and drinks, or drawings and messages written in ketchup on omelet rice.
Some spots even have live mini-stages for even more themed fun.
With so much to try and enjoy, maid cafes are more of an in-house attraction, making this the style to try if you want a full-on experience like never before.
3. Enjoy Conversations with Maids! The Bar Style Maid Cafe
Bar-style maid cafes are where to go for conversation. Here you won’t typically find the anime-esque “moe” or “goshujinsama” phrases.
True to its name, it is more akin to a bar, with later operating hours and a clientele that often enjoys alcohol.
Unlike other maid cafes, this is one particular group where you can enjoy a slightly deeper conversation, as far as life and love advice, especially if you can speak Japanese.
There’s not much in terms of language support on the menus and the cost runs a little higher, around 3,000 yen, so you may want to try something else if you’re not quite ready.
4. The Cutting-Edge of Local Niche! New-Age Style Maid Cafes
New-age style maid cafes tend to provide heaps of entertainment with a highly detailed sense of world-building.
In terms of cost, you can expect a budget close to the typical entertainment style
, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 yen. A characteristic of these cafes is the ability to enjoy cutting-edge Japanese subculture content while receiving the classic services offered by standard maid cafes.
Here are a few maid cafes in particular that have thrown out all the stops.
Enjoy Both Classic and and the Latest Niche Subculture at "MAID√MADE" Maid Cafe
"MAID√MADE" is a cutting-edge maid cafe where you can enjoy the atmosphere of Japan's latest subculture within all the thrills of immense, detailed world-building.
Not only does it offer the entertainment style's staple of delicious magic and live maid stages, but this spot is so good its even known for its carefully prepared meals.
The cafe features picture-perfect plates like Oekaki Demi Omelette Rice and "Tsukaima” Honest to Goodness Pancakes, making it an easy choice for where to have fun.
The menu book is complete with English translations while the maids keep translation apps on hand meaning there’s plenty to love for everyone across the world.
No matter what language or background this maid café is ready to welcome all sorts of new friends into its extraordinary space.
Swing by MAID√MADE and see how their future tale unfolds on a heartful journey with you.
How Japanese Choose Maid Cafes: Tips to Follow If You're Unsure
Here’s a look into how even the locals pick a first-time maid café to visit.
With so many spots in Akihabara, many locals enjoy the chance to whittle down all the options to their favorite.
Below are a few tips so you can get it like a local, picking a maid café with all the best perks suited just for you.
1. Choose by Maid
In Japan, one of the key perks of a maid café is finding one where the staff are great conversationalists.
If you’re similar, then one local hack is to search your favorite maid café for official websites and social media to see who works there.
Nowadays, many maids operate personal blogs or Instagram accounts, so people choose cafes based on photos and posts that align with their preferences for maids.
Just remember, its not always a given as the maid may not be working on the specific day of your visit.
※Some cafes publish the work schedule of their maids. Check online to be sure.
2. Choose by Concept or World
Choosing a maid cafe based on its unique concept or world theme is another popular option.
Some cafes recreate the world of manga or games, allowing for a full-on interactive space where you can coordinate your outfit with your favorite cosplay.
The entertainment world of maid cafes is filled with themes like anime and idols, so be sure check online to see what theme is in store in addition to the shop services.
3. Avoid Cafes that Solicit Customers
Even among the brighter glimmer of maid cafes there are a few bad apples to avoid. Randomly entering a cafe is a high-risk way to find a few subpar options, especially if visiting for the first time.
You can never really tell by the front door, so as a general rule its usually advised to avoid spots that aggressively solicit customers. *Not all soliciting cafes are dubious, but avoiding them can help mitigate the bad apples. If there's a cafe you're particularly interested in, search for its name online beforehand to check for an official website. If you can't find one, you may be better off looking for a different café.
First-time Friendly: New and Trendy Maid Cafes to Try First
For global travelers wanting to fully niche, subculture goodness of maid cafes, the new-age style might be the kind for you. There two main perks, first the classic chance to join a "moe" experience before the second benefit of seeing into an intricately crafted world. Many of these newer cafes offer multilingual menus (English, Chinese, etc.) making them even more accessible to the world. If you're unsure where to start your maid cafe experience in Akihabara, try stepping into a new-age maid cafe.
Frequently Asked Questions about Akihabara’s Maid Cafes
Q
What rules should be followed at a maid cafe?
A
Unauthorized photography of maids and physical contact with them are examples. Always play within the rules.
Q
What is the significance of the spells/magic cast in maid cafes?
A
Maids cast these spells with love, intending to make the food and drinks taste better.
Q
Can women enter maid cafes?
A
Yes, women can enter. Maid cafes are enjoyable for solo women, groups of women, couples, and families.
Wrap-Up
From tips on styles, what to expect and how to visit to the question of budget of cost, now you’re ready to step into the holy fandom mecca that awaits in Akihabara. Of all the many reasons to love this iconic side of Japan, many love the intense world-building and rare crafted taste of extraordinary that waits on the other side of these otaku words. If you’re looking for something truly only found in Japan to write home about, maid cafes are one savvy stop that’ll add some pizazz on your next trip. Get ready to see the quirky Japan you know and love at Akihabara’s maid cafes with this handy breakdown as your guide.