The maid cafe industry is apparently having a tough time of it, with Akiba cafe numbers halving in recent years, and some fearing the maid cafe bubble may have actually burst for good.
According to reports by journalists anxiously reporting on the state of this most crucial of Japan’s industries, it is not looking good – one database lists a total of a mere 132 maid cafes in Akihabara, out of the 282 recorded as having opened.
How their numbers could have apparently halved when they offer such an essential service is the subject of much speculation online:
“Paying ¥1200 for some frozen omelette a girl has written ‘nyan nyan’ on in ketchup is not happening.”
“Nobody thinks ‘I’m hungry, I’ll go eat at a maid cafe.’ The barrier to entry for any normal person is rather high.”
“Maids are OK but serve us normally, none of that moe-moe-kyun stuff please!”
“They did a maid cafe out our school festival and that was quite enough for me.”
“Their personnel system is set up like a cabaret club but you can’t touch and their revenue comes only from light meals and drinks. It’s a difficult model to sustain.”
“I went to one on a business trip to Tokyo, but the service is just too annoying. I was expecting something quite different.”
“I’m not convinced by the statistics. They just show a high rate of closures, but that’s about it.”
“Right, they may just have a short life expectancy per-shop, with fast opening and fast closing”
“With all the otaku in them they hardly provide an environment appealing to new customers.”
“Look at all the cuties they have at the AKB cafe!:”
“What are these creatures…”
“Somebody throw some water on them.”
“Aren’t there any normal cafes where they just dress in maid uniforms?”
“Yes, try Ginza West or something.”
“Maid cafes are just too high level. It was inevitable they’d go out of fashion.”
“Over ¥1000 for a glass of juice is outrageous. And despite being maids the service is poor and well below that you’d see in a cabaret club. And of course, they are patronised by creepy regulars. Why would anyone go to one?”
“They are all the same when it comes to regular customers compared to actual cafes. You are better off going to one of those.”
“The number of maid cafes boomed, and with all the copy cat cafes their image collapsed and customers lost interest. You can find cute JKs at a normal fast food place and just go there, and you won’t get ripped off.”
“You can buy anything in Akihabara anywhere else these days, no wonder fewer people feel drawn there. I haven’t been for a year.”
“I’d be OK with a maid cafe where the staff dressed as maids but didn’t try to shove any moe nonsense down your throat or provide fake conversations.”
“They are just daytime cabaret clubs. Too many of them are managed by the same people as those clubs too…”
“They used to be run by otaku, these days it is just the same yakuza who run the brothels. And their mass influx is why it ended up like this.”
“I’m still waiting for a yandere cafe…”
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“I’m still waiting for a yandere cafe…”
We should have a tsundere cafe as well.
Don't forget a kuudere cafe.
It already exists
Unfortunately, where I live, there are only dandere cafes where the girls don't say anything and just give you the bill :<
The 2D maid picture is hot
Thus is the power of Super Sonico.
I guess the otaku finally ran out of money...
Or gained +5 logic.
That would be +5 reasoning. Logic is not a skill, you can't "do logic".
Its not surprising, really it seems like many of Japan's luxury goods industries are struggling. Prices seem to be set outrageously high for no real reason, other than industry leaders are just completely out of touch with the current financial situation of the average Japanese.
...lol, a christian. you know that jesus isn't real, right?
i dont get the joke here
I don't get it either, but maybe you should stop talking out of your arse? That a person named Jesus existed around the time that is referenced by the bible and that he taught a philosophy that would later be the foundations of christianity AND that he was crucified is a historic FACT.
And yes, Moses existed too. He was a cunning general, who lead the Jewish to conquer their homeland. Quite ruthless too. But that's how things were back then...
The German dude
weißt du letztens wollte ne verdammte schwuchtel über das fernsehprogramm meiner mutter bei meinen wixvorgang mitmachen.... weißt wie mich sowas ankotzt?
da brauchts dann kein german dude und die holy bible und moses geplapper mehr....... da is alles klar.
wenn hier irgendjemand "to talk out of its arse" macht dann ist das wohl eher dein gaylord.
ansonsten les ich mir gerne deine theorie über " to talk out of someones ass and how to read the signs" lesen. würd mich wirklich interessieren.
gott hat euch verlassen?
:***(
Ok, ich habe KEINEN plan wovon du hier redest, aber gegen dein kleines Internet-Tourette empfehle ich etwas Haschisch.
Run out of money to spend on otaku goods? NEVA! >.>
Realistically, I don't see how anyone can blame anything other than the economy. Besides, my guess is that otaku and herbivore males weren't the main customers... it was probably salary men.
“Paying ¥1200 for some frozen omelette a girl has written ‘nyan nyan’ on in ketchup is not happening.”
“Over ¥1000 for a glass of juice is outrageous. And despite being maids the service is poor and well below that you’d see in a cabaret club. And of course, they are patronised by creepy regulars. Why would anyone go to one?”
Here's your answer... case closed.
True the equivalent of $10+ for a glass of juice is a massive ripoff and eventually you'll run out of suckers.
“They used to be run by otaku"
This is the answer!
Otakus, Start up a maid cafe and show the citizens how a maid cafe should be like.
Not quite an answer. A number of otaku would try to staff with their ideal 2D girls, and then your customers start leaving when the picture of a girl on the 3DS at the end of the table just can't get your order right.
People who never went to japan have to be aware that akibara is ridiculously small. 282 is just too crazy compared to the size (and 132 is still far too numerous)
When you stroll in akiba and see all these maids everywhere giving all these leaflets, at some point you're just fed up and avoid them.
Every booms have to end someday anyway, and it's a good thing as only the decent maid cafe will survive to this... maybe
Moe moe kyun.
fuck.. i just remember some shit happened at singapore
And meanwhile, the western equivalent of maid cafes is rising. Tilted Kilt is my kind of maid cafe :3 and I'm thankful to them for saving us from the likes of Hooters and their horrible food.
dude, a white maid cafe would be pretty awkward
Who said anything about white maid cafes? The western equivalent of Japanese maid cafes would be the various "boobs and burgers" eateries, isn't that logical?
Maid cafes could learn a thing or two, or three, or surrender their business entirely, to Hooters.
Hooters don't just have "white maids", they have asian, hispanic, and black women working there too, and it's not awkward at all like I would guess a Japanese maid cafe would be (at least the first time) with their "acting".
Wait, so does the lack of any mention of butler cafes mean that while maid cafes have dropped, butler cafes have not changed? o.O
Must have gotten downvoted simply for mentioning butler cafes at all. It's automatically an invalid question around these parts.
Riiight, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that that the point you made is completely irrelevant to the article as well as rather uninteresting.
Simple the novelty has worn off.
“Somebody throw some water on them.”
Putting in a tee shirt and throwing water on them may attract a different clientele with more money.
i would be worried if the ones decreasing were strip clubs or, ahem massage parlors.
Just went to the imouto cafe in akiba yesterday. Payed 1000 yen for just an ice cream T_T
Still, anybody who actually lives in Japan knows that maid cafes aren't going away anytime soon. They're probably opening more frequently, if anything.
Also, I honestly think a lot of the girls at the AKB48 cafe are more cute than some of the AKB48 members themselves.
Nagomi! That place is kind of smokey though lol
But yeah, just being able to interact with the maids on the Akihabara streets is fun enough.
When I went to Tokyo, I wanted to go to a maid cafe, but I ultimately decided against it. I needed to conserve my money after spending a helluva lot at Comiket 78, and still needed some for the train ride back to the airport... as well as seeing the Zoroark Pokemon movie in theaters, buying me one of those kitsune masks, and a couple other random tidbits.
Actually, I probably could've abstained from buying a couple video games while I was in Akiba... but ah well. From the sounds of it, it seems I wasn't missing much. Though I wonder, on the whole "moe moe kyun" stereotype, is it possible to request characters? And if so, what happens if you request something like "a realist kuudere"?
LOSER SHIT! GTFO AND DIE!
I think they should have "special dishes" where the maid comes to play a bit with the customer and then normal food with normal prices.
Niche people will occasionally spring for idealized maid service (A), but will pay less for high-volume, speed-trained, unenthusiastic service/maids (B).
There is a SMALL amount of interest in paying (A) rates for (A) service. Maybe 10-20 shops?
There is a MODERATE amount of interest in paying (B) rates for (B) service. Maybe 100-200 shops?
There is a LARGE amount of interest in paying (B) rates for (A) service. Maybe >500 shops? But no shop will waste money.
There is VERY LITTLE interest in paying (A) rates for (B) service. There once was more and shops flooded that market, but that bubble is clearly fading.
"Niche" + "Occasional" /cannot/ sustain 400 Type 4 shops in one local area. Excess Type 4s will die out, numbers will trend towards appropriate values of Type 1 and Type 2.
lol economics.
Another reason is because of the added "private" service many seems to offer now and which gets public after some time. These cafes are no longer what they were anymore.
“The number of maid cafes boomed, and with all the copy cat cafes their image collapsed and customers lost interest. You can find cute JKs at a normal fast food place and just go there, and you won’t get ripped off.”
This is good advice!
The Recession has clearly hit otaku's wallet.
I spend £60 just buying two plates of curry with tap water at @home.
If there's a big spender on the floor, like an office party popping champagne, you get totally ignored.
It's worth it once for the experience, but never again, too expensive! You could go to an image club and ask the girl to just eat lunch with you for less.
A yandere cafe sounds fun to to though. I won't mind spending a bit of my cash to see dat yandere vibe.
The first yandere cafe should be put on a second-hand Norwegian ferry boat moored in the harbor.
I hear those boats are very nice.
I would think that a yandere cafe would be like in Hotel California (a song by the Eagles).
"You can check-out anytime you like, but you can never leave..."
Why not Karma Hotel by Spooks
Treat them like an actual cafe/restaurant and maybe they wouldn't always be closing down. High quality food and drink are the foundations, which most maid cafes don't even have. It's no wonder they're shutting down.
A cafe with servers in boring outfits but good food and drinks at reasonable prices can run forever. There is no reason a maid cafe shouldn't make MORE! It's pure incompetence.
Then again, restaurants naturally has high closure rate in general. New research suggests that nearly 30 percent of restaurants close down after their first year and 50 percent after the third.
When you apply maid cafes into the equation, the number becomes larger because they're not a typical type of restaurants people go to for food alone. They are rather a service establishment relying on the novelty of young women in maid dresses, and the prices they offer for the food alone are higher than average.
I'm visit japan yearly and I'm just go to maid cafe once...I prefer spend my money for anime goods than pay 3000yen for omerice.... Eat in yoshinoya or ramen shop better than maid cafe in taste and price too..