The World According to Mitch

As you know from my last article I spent several hours on Sunday in the Akihabara section of Tokyo.  There seems to be an abundance of what are called ‘Maid Cafes’ here.  While I did not go into any of them, I was confronted by several of these maids on the street handing out fliers and beckoning patrons into their ‘Best Maid Cafe in Tokyo’. 

From what I can tell these cafes cater to men (and women I suppose) with a maid fetish… and from what I am told they go all out.  The patron is welcomed into the cafe as if he is the master of the house, with WELCOME HOME MASTER! (Okaerinasaimase, goshujinsama).  They may be offered face cloths and a menu, which I am told would be similar to any cafe (except for the prices).

I admit that the picture I have posted here was found on Bing… I asked several of these maids if I could take their picture, but none of them were willing.  I am told that inside the cafes you can take pictures with your maid… for $20 a pop.  Should any of you be that obsessed that you need me to take that picture, I will gladly put your donations toward the cause.  Otherwise I am saving my money for … well, I don’t know what I am saving it for, but not for this.

Tokyo seems to be a city obsessed with fetishes… from these maid cafes to the anime porn I discussed in my previous article.  To each his or her own I say, I am content to just watching the people in the street.

Moving on: The loudest place you are ever likely to find yourself is not a rock concert or a night club; it is a pachinko parlour in Tokyo.  I would love to describe Pachinko to you, but I admit I do not understand it.  It is a gambling device as I understand it, where you pour little metal balls into the top of the machine, and they cascade down through a maze that seems to all lead to them coming out the bottom… but there has to be more to it.  I walked into one parlour in Akihabara that seemed to be themed after the immensely popular AKB48 – a Japanese girl group with eighty-odd members.  They are apparently one of the highest earning musical acts in the world, and they are truly a social phenomenon here.

If I understand correctly, the girls sign a contract that prohibits all sorts of unacceptable behaviour.  With that being said it seems that a number of them have moved on to break that contract, with a number of them finding their calling in the world of pornographic movies… and not the anime variety.  Power to them, those starlet/idols are immediately excommunicated from the group who seem to portray themselves and extremely sexy but purely wholesome.

More tomorrow… stay tuned!