Tired of their manga and maid loving male counterparts having all the fun, Japan’s growing number of female otaku (geeks) have decided to hit back — the opening of a ‘butler cafe’ graciously getting things going.
The Swallowtail coffee house in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district is decked out like an English manor house, with customers subserviently greeted with a “Welcome home, Madam.†A concept that may seem a little odd, but it’s one that appears to have a ready-made audience, Emiko Sakamaki, the woman behind the eatery, explaining, “When I visited a ‘maid cafe’ last year, I thought there should be a cafe with a similar concept for women. And I saw people post some messages on the Internet that they wanted such a butler cafe. I thought the cafe could be accepted.” And accepted it has been, with tables being fully booked until May 12, the management asking customers to make reservations online to guarantee themselves a table.
Swallowtail’s vast majority of visitors it seems are women in their 20s and 30s, with Ayako Abe of K-Books — which runs the cafe and has several shops that sell manga depicting love between beautiful youths — explaining the market for such establishments by saying, “Our shops’ prime target customers are not women in their teens and 20s, but those in their 30s and 40s who got used to ‘boys’ love’ comics while they were young, and come to the stores with their daughters.”
Not that any such ‘boy love’ goes on whilst beverages are being served, with Swallowtail’s handpicked group of 20 ‘butlers’ having spent a month studying about various kinds of tea leaves and how to make a good cuppa. A training program however that may need a few minor adjustments, with visitor Noriko Suzuki commenting, “The butlers looked nervous serving tea and cake, but I liked the ambience of the coffee shop. I felt like I was peeking into the world of girls’ manga comics dealing with butlers.”
A focus on the cafe’s decor and atmosphere that Sakamaki-san believes differentiates the likes of Swallowtail from the decidedly less sophisticated places catering for males. “Men would not mind if maid cafes use cheap tables and pipe chairs as long as the waitresses are prettyâ€
A comment that may,
or may not be true.
Doro says
I wish I could go there now. We have nothing like this in America.
Rice It says
Yeah.
I’d love a for a cool butler cafe to open up in the States.
I mean, it’s great that they’ve got stuff that cater to females, too. ^_^
brittany says
Doro you too. Gosh they need to bring this to the U.S. I’m all for bringing maid cafes to (I wanna work at one, could black people work at one? ponders)
josh says
be glad to, although no one beats an asian in a suit. but as long as you are kawaii (Japanese term for cute) they’ll take you in at anytime ^_^
Kalira says
What I would give for a butler cafe… The idea of a club catering mostly to women, or men that put effort into their appearance (even if it was their uniform ^^) sounds scrumptious. And while the tea training seems a little much, it would be so nice to have a proper tea house… I can never find real ones.
Adrik says
please. where is the schoolboy cafe? edelstein? an address would be awesome!
JaredinNakano says
Wow! I heard about the suits and eyeglass host bar: http://www.love-all.co.jp/
Do you know if male customers are welcome at butler bars and male host clubs? Thanks!
ankara hafriyat says
thanks a lot