Cafe with maid service for Tokyo's new 'nerd-culture'

(12 Feb 2006)
6 February 2006
1. Zoom out from crockery on tray to the waitress dressed in the pink maid costume and fake cat ears at a maid cafe
2. Close up of maid
3. Wide pan of the Pinafore cafe with maid serving drinks to a customer
4. Maid serving another customer
5. Various of a maid Mayumi bringing a drink on a tray and serving a customer
6. Tilt down a maid costume on display
7. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) : Mayumi, maid:
"We dress in this unique costume which the other cafes cannot imitate. There are many customers who like the costume and who want to wear them themselves."
8. Tilt down wall with several framed pictures to a customer at the cafe
9. Mid shot of Mayumi working
10. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Mayumi, maid:
"The customers as well as myself cannot talk about Manga, Japanese comic books, which we all like, at other venues because people think we are weird. But, we can talk about Manga here. So, I enjoy working here."
11. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) customer, Voxpop :
"I come here before work and get ready for the hard work. In that sense, this cafe is a place of healing for me."
12. Maids at work in the cafe
13. Customer interacting with the maid at the till
14. Close up of a photo of the customer with a maid
3 February 2006
15. Wide pan of a store displaying maids and other costumes
16. Costumes on display
17. Mid of man browsing
18. Pan up from pedestrians to building windows displaying various costumes
19. A window displaying various costumes
20. Various of woman in costume handing out leaflets to promoting her maid cafe
STORYLINE:
Cafe culture in Tokyo is booming thanks to a billion-dollar a year, "nerd culture" or "otaku" that has its roots in Japan's enduring fascination with "manga" comic books and animation.
Twenty Maid caf�s have sprung-up in the central Tokyo suburb of Akihabara. The draw for customers, is the chance to have their tea served by waitresses dressed in outfits, like those seen in the comics and anime.
Mayumi, a "maid" at Pinafore cafe, said part of the attraction of the cafe is the fact that clients and waitresses can freely discuss their favourite manga.
"The customers as well as myself cannot talk about Manga, Japanese comic books, which we all like, at other venues because people think we are weird. But, we can talk about Manga here. So, I enjoy working here," said Mayumi, a maid in the Pinafore cafe.
Films, like the recent, "Train Man," about a nerd who falls in love, has helped fuel the growing popularity of "otaku culture" and has transformed Akihabara neighbourhood into a magnet for young men looking for comics, videogames and anime DVDs.
The culture even has its own code word: "moe," or eros-laced affection for the doe-eyed female characters in the comics and animation movies - or anime for short.
The Hamagin Research Institute in Yokohama estimated 2003 sales of comics, games and anime films in the "moe" genre totalled 767 (m) million US dollars.
The otaku economy includes Internet auctions of dolls, comics, films, trading cards and outfits.
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