With her frilly green dress and white lace gloves and about to serve tea under a chandelier in a small Tokyo store, Naru Naruse looks the perfect French maid.
The store, named Candy Fruit, sells designer eyeglasses. Naruse is part of a mushrooming fantasy world in Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood, where make-believe maids are spilling out from their original novelty cafes to lure mostly male customers to reflexology centers and souvenir stalls.
"I always wanted to wear a cute costume," said Naruse, one of eight maids who work at Candy Fruit. "Now I can wear this out in the open." She declined to reveal her age, saying all the maids in Akihabara are perpetually 17.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.