Maid cafes appeared in Akihabara around the year 2000. This novel idea of having girls dressed as maids interacting with customers became a huge sensation. Now, many maid cafes are establishing ...

On a humid Wednesday night the streets of Kabukicho, Tokyo’s most famous red-light district, hum with people. Some are tourists, here to gawp and take selfies, but others are customers. Adverts for ...

Maid cafes have become so embedded in Japan that it is hard to imagine a Tokyo without them. There are now more than 200 maid cafes in Japan, but the good news is that increased competition is making ...