Akibahara: More Than What You Would Expect!
Taken from kawaiiotaku.com
Akihabara, also called as “Akiba” is a haven, a dream come true, for all the otakus. There are shopping malls for electronics and manga, including a super bis sex store (5 storeys tall) and tons and tons of maid cafes. Before you brush me off with the “ohhhh yes I know all that, don’t have to tell me more”, let us look at one of the subcultures that exists in the smaller streets of Akiba!
NEWTYPE, a maid cafe in Akibahara, features something entirely different from what the other cafes has to offer. The “maids” here are all men dressed to as girls!
Wait! Wait! Do not dismiss me before I introduce them! They are definitely not the kind of ah guas that you have in your mind! Before I try to convince you that it is a cafe worth visiting, let us look at the “girls”, shall we?
Images taken from newtype.ms
Convinced? They are not as bad as you would imagine eh? Here is an interview on the maids that worked here.
For me, it is hard to believe that the girls can be so pretty. As much as I am a girl myself, I felt that they are prettier and cuter than me! 羨ましい〜
Cross dressing culture in Japan is not uncommon. Although they are a minority, there is an increasing trend of the younger generation interested in this unique subculture. NEWTYPE is the first “女装”(jo-so) male cross dressing cafe in Japan. Today, there are more than one cafe that has the same theme as NEWTYPE, as well as the reverse version, 男装(dan-so) female cross dressing cafes.
“How was your experience at the cafe then?”
Well, it took me a lot of courage to even step in! I was alone that day and decided that I must not have any regrets when I stood at the entrance.
The cafe is not very big, almost similar to a bar instead of the common cafe. I spent the night chatting with a Japanese lady beside me(with very simple Japanese and lots of sign language) and had two drinks.
The maids were dressed in Santarina costumes(I went on the 23 December) and the whole cafe has a very light Christmas feel. As for the food, I only had wedges so I did not have a chance to try out other delicacies. Every member of the crew was very polite and speaks in a lady-like manner. At the end of the day, i even took polaroid shots with them!
My bill was roughly:
1000 yen (entry+free drink)
1000 yen (Polaroid)
1000 yen (Polaroid)
800 yen (one bottle of alcoholic drink)
With tax, it adds up to about 4000yen, which is nearly $50.
The polaroid is a little pricey in my opinion, but I am willing to spend because who knows if this cafe still exists the next time I visit Japan?! With the drinks, I felt it was reasonable, because I expected it to be more expensive.
Written by: Marcia Loh
Edited by: Jessel Eng
Polaroid Pictures by Marcia Loh