Become a Maid flips the maid cafe script.

By now, pretty much everyone with an interest in Japanese pop culture knows how maid cafes work, right? After customers order from the menu, a maid serves them their food and drink, usually addressing them as mistress or master and adding a dash of classical elegance or playful cuteness to the meal.

Maid cafes have become an established part of Japan’s dining entertainment scene, but one establishment is now blazing new ground by being a reverse maid cafe.

Maid ni Nareru Cafe lays its concept out right in its name, which translates to “Cafe Where You Can Become a Maid.” At this pop-up maid cafe, which had its first session back in the spring, customers themselves are the ones who take on the role of maids. After selecting an apron and bonnet/cap of your liking, you’ll serve tea and cakes to your customer, with all of the refined hospitality befitting a maid.

Now, that might sound like Maid ni Nareru Cafe, which also goes by the name “Become a Maid,” is trying to have it both ways, charging conventional customers for their food and drink while also charging other customers to play maid. That’s not actually the case, however, because the high-class young lady the cafe’s maids serve isn’t actually a customer, but instead is someone playing the role of a customer. And no, there’s no pressure to bring her drinks and sweets ASAP and then scurry back to the kitchen to grab the next order. That’s because “working” at Become a Maid is really more like a cosplay photo shoot. The cafe’s employees will take photos (using your smartphone) as you serve your “customer.” In other words, this is a cafe where the customer pretends to be a maid who pretends to be working, while someone else is working by pretending to be a customer.

▼ Said pretend customer for Become a Maid’s next session is Yamietta, who herself often does maid cosplay, adding yet another layer to the whole affair.

Oh, and don’t worry, each maid’s 90-minute sessions includes time for you to enjoy a drink and dessert of your own too.

Become a Maid’s next iteration is scheduled for August 16, hosted at Yorimichi Cafe Nyan and Peace in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa neighborhood just a bit west of the city center. Tickets are priced at 4,000 yen (US$27) and can be reserved online here, with starting times of 2, 2;15, 3;45, and 4 p.m. still available as of this writing.

Related: Become a Maid official Twitter account, Yorimichi Cafe Nyan and Peace
Source: Twitter/@become_a_maid
Images: Pass Market
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