Sunday, the Japanese Student Organization will host their fourth annual Maid Café at Curl Market. Credit: Courtesy of Shuto Urabe
Equipped with ketchup bottles and adorned in lace aprons, men and women of the Japanese Student Organization will transform Curl Market into a modern, Japanese-inspired maid café Sunday — with a Buckeye twist.
An eye-catching TikTok posted by JSO on Feb. 3 about the event received over 7,000 likes and nearly 50,000 views. Beyond the initial draw of the video, JSO members said they hope to promote student engagement with Japanese culture in a fun, lighthearted space. Sunday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Curl Viewpoint, students can enjoy omurice, eclairs and a slice of culture served free of charge.
“Our goal as a JSO is to promote Japanese culture in Ohio State, and then we tried to do that in as fun [a] way [as] possible, and I think maid café is a really good example of that,” said Shuto Urabe, a second-year in accounting and treasurer for JSO. “[We’re] trying to bring Japanese culture in an interesting way to Ohio State so that people want to engage.”
The Maid Café craze began in the early 2000s in modernized Japanese cities such as Tokyo. The cafés center around hospitality and fantasy fulfillment, with most patrons seeking engagement with characters of their pop-culture or gaming manifestations.
However, beyond the costumes, maid cafés strive to promote social connection and create a temporary escape from reality for those who attend. Urabe said for JSO’s Ohio State rendition of a Maid Café, the goal remains the same.
“[The] maid café definitely comes off as a kind of shock to people, like people are very curious as to what this is,” Urabe said. “It kind of invite[s] and create[s] an opportunity for people to come check out JSO.”
While the event is rooted in enjoyment, JSO must work extremely hard to prepare a delicious dinner and a memorable experience. The main dish, omurice, is prepared a day in advice by members of the club, typically in an upperclassman’s kitchen.
The dish consists of egg-topped fried rice, which is then garnished in ketchup artwork. One of the main aspects of the dish is that maids decorate the egg with drawings or messages, Sofia Takenaka, second-year in marketing and co-media design chair, said.
Given the theme of social connection, one of the most popular ketchup drawings from previous events has been hearts. Urabe said customers can also make requests to the maids for specialty drawings of their choosing.
On the morning of the event, JSO will prepare unbaked eclairs — a light, custard-filled dessert with a cornflake bottom. From there, Urabe and Takenaka said they will prepare the space and assemble their handcrafted photobooth which they encourage students to take advantage of.
“It’s just really fun to do silly little poses, with not only your friends, but with others,” Takenaka said. “I think that’s probably my favorite part.”
Attendees are also encouraged to not only take pictures with friends, but with any of the nine maids working the event, Urabe said.
In addition to the event itself, the preparation is grounded in community and enjoyment. For JSO, Urabe said the experience of making food yields laughter, high spirits and memories.
“It usually takes longer than what we expect, but it’s still a really fun experience because we just get together and cook food and chat and everything,” Urabe said.
Urabe said the day is usually hectic, with ingredients dwindling sooner than expected and last-minute trips to Kroger, however, the joy of the event outshines any inconveniences.
Past maid cafés have typically been filled with attendees mostly coming to see their friends dressed as maids, Takenaka said. However, this year, she said she hypothesizes a much different turnout as a result of the video.
“It’s not something that you see every day,” Takenaka said. “I think when the opportunity to do something a little silly comes up, you should just take it — there’s nothing wrong with having fun and doing something that you normally wouldn’t do.”
