When you meet someone older than you or of a higher rank, you must do a 90 degree bow. If they are the same age as you but you are required to be polite you must do a 45 degree bow, however if they are family and so a 25 degree bow can suffice.
When you meet someone older or of a higher rank you must use “san” at the end of their name. If you meet someone at school and they are in a higher grade than you, you use “senpai”. If you meet the head of a company, president, the eldest of the family you use “sama”, if it just a friend you can use “kun” for a boy and “chan” for a girl.
When speaking to someone older or who deserves respect always speak in the polite form.
When you leave your home you must announce that you are leaving by stating “Okairi” and when entering your home you must announce your arrival by saying “Tadaima”.
Before eating you must show gratitude for the meal by saying “Itadakimasu”.When going to your place of work you must be polite and say “hello” to everyone you work with and when you leave you should say “otsukaresama”.
These are some of the basic customs that people follow in Japan. With such a strict culture it is no wonder the Japanese choose to escape to the virtual world. In this world they can be themselves without the boundaries society has created. Maid cafés became the prefect places for people to escape and to be who they want to be. This is also one of the reasons cosplaying and roleplaying has become so popular in Japan. It is easier to live the fantasy.
Geisha houses were places for men to escape reality. Many people have the wrong impression of Geisha houses and what their ultimate purpose is. While the Geisha’s evolved from the courtesan, the Geishas were originally meant to pleasure men and not necessarily sexually (even though some Geishas were paid by a sponsor whom she would sleep with exclusively). Most upper class Geishas were educated and talented women who would entertain men through conversation and private performances. Some would even attend important events as guests. The Geishas have become highly ritualistic with strict etiquette. Some men could and could not associate with the ladies of the pleasure quarters depending on their social status. They even had to dress a particular way to show that they were not courtesans. The Geishas tried to show elegance not exuberance. There were even Geisha districts where men would specifically travel to get away.
How has this historical figure evolved? With the advent of video games possibly the needs or the fantasy has changed? Maybe these maid cafés have become modern day pleasure quarters that caterers to everyone’s specific fantasy much like the Geisha. Japan has modernized an old cultural icon and evolved it to fit with the times. Maybe these hard core gamers are the modern day Samurai?
For my conclusion I want to express how the Maid Cafés originated in Japan due to a combination of intense technological modernization of Japan and its culture.
Acting. There is nothing new about acting. Jokers would take on the roles of other people in courts across the world for hundreds of years for humor, but when did acting become “Role Playing”? Role Playing stemmed from acting but what is the difference between the two? The dictionary definition of acting is “the art, profession, or activity of those who perform in stage plays, motion pictures, etc” while Role-playing is defined as “the modifying of a person’s behavior to accord with a desired personal image, as to impress others or conform to a particular environment.” When did the role become the reality?
In order to understand what a “maid café” is- and what it means about us, we need to understand where it comes from. There is a history of Role playing prior to the advent of video games. Board games such as “Dungeons and Dragons” and the release of the epic “Lord of the Rings”, created worlds with rules that people could play out in the real world. However, in the 1970′s when video games became more accessible Role Playing became a more significant phenomenon. People were able to take on roles in new fantasy games and become a character with his or her original personality, plot and world.
Games such as “Super Mario”, “Zelda”, and the popular “Final Fantasy” series created otherworldly characters whose worlds were much more fascinating than ours. However, what do all of these games have in common? They were all created in Japan. Why is that so important you may ask? Japan has become one of the most electronically advanced countries in the world; however it is also one of the most “delusional” ones as well. Prior to 1854, Japan had absolutely no “advanced” technology.
No electricity, no steam boats or trains, no cars. Japan was stuck in the middle ages and until the west introduced these swanky new inventions, Japan was not modernizing. From 1854-2009 how did Japan become such a technologically advance power house? And is that the reason their people “live” in their technology?
Once Japan got their hands on technology they took it to places the west could not dream of- literally. Japan took the concept of “Video games” and gave it a world. The concept of Role Playing Games may have originated in America but it was raised in Japan. Role Playing Games or “RPGS” spread like a disease and became a multi-billion dollar industry. In Japan, RPG’s don’t end when the game turns off.
People want to become the character and live the lives they see on the screen. ENTER: The Maid Café. They wanted to become these characters and to live in a different world. As a result, people began dressing up and becoming these characters. Areas like Harajuku a district in Tokyo, Japan became characterized by these “role players” and “cosplayers” (i.e. People who dress up and become characters from Japanese Television shows). In order to cater to this new clientele Japan came up with the concept of “Maid Cafes”.
A Maid Café is meant to help people live in their fantasy. The original concept for these cafes came from video games where ultra-perky cute girls dressed up in frilly dresses would serve the main character-calling him “master”.
The main patrons to these cafes are normally “Otakus” (a term used in Japan to describe people who are obsessed with RPGs, Anime, and/or comic books) would come to these cafes to live their fantasy. Beautiful, cute, cheery girls will come to take their orders, blow their food if it’s hot, sing for them, dance for them, and even keep them company. These girls become “imaginary girlfriends” for the boys who RPGs for hours on end. However, there are even maid café’s for women. Handsome, well mannered Men treat their patrons with courtesy. There are “mother cafes” and even “military cafes” where the patrons salute their costumers. These cafes live by the motto “Moe” or “more”, always go over the top”.
How can the people of Japan know where the fantasy ends and reality begins if their society completely blurs those lines?
Last semester I read Jean Baudrillard a French philosopher’s book Simulacra and Simulation which claimed “the copy will become the original”. He questions what simulation is and what a simulacrum is. Simulation is something that is not real while a simulacrum is something we make real. A good modern day example is movies. Since the invention of film, movies have become a part human culture. Why do people enjoy the movies so much? I believe based on Baudrillard’s text that it is because the movies-like a video game-is a fantasy. It is a way for us to watch something great and feed into our pleasures. It is a way for us to see all forms of truths and illusions and to see what our lives can not be but wish for. I think this is exactly what is happening with Maid Café’s and these “role players”.
What does this mean for society as a whole? Currently, video games, animations, and cosplaying are in vogue. But why now? And will we be able to come back to reality? I guess that is something else that needs exploring.
(Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com i maid cafe) 
For my second travelogue I want to look into how the internet has made us live in a sort of “second reality”. Games such as “second life” have made people delusional as shown in an example where a lady killed her second life husband- in real life. I wanted to explore what implications these “role playing games” are having on our sanity in the real world. I think even websites like “eharmony” and “match.com” have allowed us to make an alternative presonality on the internet by “tweeking” our profiles we can be what ever and who ever we want.
