Dancing Maids in Akihabara

Akiharbara is known as the "Electric Town" since there are many electronics stores on the main street and in the smaller back alleys. Going through here was fun but also bit of a nerd convention since there were a ton of middle aged men and women looking at video games and anime spots. There were a few second hand video game stores which I found amazing since they had a library of games all the way from the original NES to today's PS3 and X-box. In one of the memoribilia shops there was even Nintendo's Virtual Boy unit on display. Does anybody remember that thing? It was a weird pair of black and red goggles that you had to look into to play, and all the games were composed of red laser lights. I certainly did not remember that failed gaming system until seeing it again with my own eyes yesterday.

The other reason Akiharbara is well known is because it is also the location of several maid cafes. Kyle and I decided it was time to see what all the hype was about. At Maid Cafes the waitresses are completely dressed in maid outfits while serving your drinks and food. The initial one we decided on literally had 50 people waiting in line, so we shifted our attention to a smaller one.

Upon being showed to our table by one of the maids the lights started to dim and another maid passed us. Turns out we were given a table right in front of a mini stage equipped with a microphone and amp. Within a matter of seconds she started singing and dancing to a very fast paced Japanese pop song while the rest of the audience clapped along. Kyle and I had no idea what was going on and it was shocking to be so close to the action. We ordered drinks and tried to wrap our minds around the situation. A little more time passed and it was time for the next maid's song and dance routine. I was able to capture this on video and I'll attempt to upload it at a later time.

After giggling our way out of the Maid Cafe we headed to Yodobashi-- a huge retail electronics store that would put FutureShop/Best Buy to shame. This place has nine huge floors each dedicated to its own category: cell phones, laptops/computers, audio/mp3 players, cameras, appliances, tv/video, toys, video games, music/movies, and an entire floor of delicious looking restaurants. On the video game floor I decided to showcase my Guitar Hero skill which is mediocre at best (the game is still fairly new in Japan). However it seemed to have worked since the few people watching were amazed at me finishing songs at 96% on Hard. I walked away feeling on top of the world! Damn, how I miss Guitar Hero and Rock Band...