I love Japan.
From the latest J-list newsletter:
Now women who are interested in yaoi comics, anime and PC gaming culture can enjoy Japan's first "BL Cafe." In Tokyo's bustling commercial district known as Ikebukuro there's a street called Otome Road (Maiden Road), fast becoming the yaoi answer to the more traditional otaku culture found in Akihabara. On that street is a restaurant called Lily Rose, staffed with incredibly attractive men who look like they stepped out of a BL comic. Oops, scratch that -- the staff is actually all women who are dressed as yaoi-esque males, complete with male names like Keisuke-kun. The employees of the restaurant are known as "gyaru-son," which combines the word "gal" (i.e. hip young Tokyo girl) with "son" to make "garcon." Why would women want to eat in a restaurant staffed by women dressed as effeminate men? One patron said: "Because the staff are really women, I can eat without fear of a man trying to pick me up, allowing me to take in the beauty of the 'men' around me as I enjoy my food."
Women, pretending to be gay men, for the appreciation/enjoyment of other women. Sounds familiar somehow...
Now women who are interested in yaoi comics, anime and PC gaming culture can enjoy Japan's first "BL Cafe." In Tokyo's bustling commercial district known as Ikebukuro there's a street called Otome Road (Maiden Road), fast becoming the yaoi answer to the more traditional otaku culture found in Akihabara. On that street is a restaurant called Lily Rose, staffed with incredibly attractive men who look like they stepped out of a BL comic. Oops, scratch that -- the staff is actually all women who are dressed as yaoi-esque males, complete with male names like Keisuke-kun. The employees of the restaurant are known as "gyaru-son," which combines the word "gal" (i.e. hip young Tokyo girl) with "son" to make "garcon." Why would women want to eat in a restaurant staffed by women dressed as effeminate men? One patron said: "Because the staff are really women, I can eat without fear of a man trying to pick me up, allowing me to take in the beauty of the 'men' around me as I enjoy my food."
Women, pretending to be gay men, for the appreciation/enjoyment of other women. Sounds familiar somehow...