A Maid Man
A photo taken on the set of the latest episode of Tokyo Eye, which covers... The Japan Maid Association's official Akiba Maid Certification Test! These freshly-minted Level Threes joined us in the studio to tell us all about it. It's set to air at the end of next month -- I'll post details when they're available.
That's right: there's now an official Japan Maid Association (motto: "From Fad to Mainstream Culture.") Intriguingly, it doesn't test applicants as to anime or manga knowledge, as you might expect, but rather drills the history of Victorian maids into them so they can (wait for it) get jobs as "real" maids cleaning peoples' homes. Talk about coming full circle. It's like a maid outreach program.
In the meantime (and how's this for a segue?) fans of raw sewage will be excited to hear that another segment will air first: I plunge into the depths of Tokyo's sewer system for an up-close and personal look at, uh, Tokyo's bowels. That particularly fragrant episode airs on May 7th on NHK World abroad (check your cable provider for details) and at 10:15pm on May 14th on terrestrial digital channel 3, subchannel 2 in Japan.
Hooray for maids!
And to think, we used to joke about the job of "bikini inspector".
Posted by:Mr.Dandy | April 26, 2008 at 11:04 AM
From sewage to maids. I see a trend developing. The universe is speaking to you, bub. It's saying: Clean up your act, Alt!
Posted by:cae | April 27, 2008 at 02:12 AM
Sadly, I'm more excited about the prospect of watching the sewer segment than I am about the one featuring the attractive young girls - hope it'll be up on YouTube soon!
Posted by:Ryan | April 27, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Nothing sad about that -- the whole Akihabara maid scene gets endless coverage these days (so much so, actually, that it's really easy to forget just what a tiny subculture they really represent). On the other hand, the sewer segment is a window into a part of Tokyo that affects everyone's lives yet very rarely sees the light of day. Literally and figuratively!
Posted by:Matt | April 27, 2008 at 01:52 PM
I have a question, why are gaijin who speak some Japanese always gagging to be on tv in Japan? Does it pay well?
Posted by:666 | April 27, 2008 at 02:18 PM
sorry, forget the troll comment.
I would like to see Tokyo's sewers too.
Posted by:666 | April 27, 2008 at 02:50 PM