Guide · Akihabara

Part of: Akihabara Maid Cafés: Price, Rules, Which One

Cure Maid Café Akihabara: The Original Maid Café, How It Differs, and How to Get In

Cure Maid Café, founded in 2001, describes itself as Japan's first maid café. Staff wear classic maid uniforms and the café's stated concept is a calm, relaxing space. It holds the Japan Tea Association's "good tea shop" certification, serves meals, scones and waffles, and runs rotating anime collaboration cafés. It is inside Gee!Store Akiba on the 4th floor of the Onoden Building, 1-2-7 Sotokanda, near JR Akihabara's Electric Town exit. You can walk in; reservations are only for supporter-card members. I run private anime tours here most weeks. A maid café is not part of my tour, but when guests ask where to go on their own for a tea-room style, this is the one I name.

The café says it appears in the TV anime Love Live! and Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, as the model for scenes there.

How is Cure Maid Café different from other maid cafés?

It presents itself as a calm, tea-room style of maid café. Cure Maid's own description stresses classic uniforms, relaxation, proper food and certified tea. It also hosts anime collaboration cafés with themed menus and goods, which change every few weeks.

For how other Akihabara maid cafés work, see Akihabara maid cafés. For the figure, retro-game and secondhand floors around it, my Akihabara anime tour covers those; it does not include a maid café.

Where is Cure Maid Café?

On the 4th floor of the Onoden Building, 1-2-7 Sotokanda, inside the Gee!Store Akiba shop. From JR Akihabara's Electric Town gate, head towards the Electric Town south side, cross under the railway towards the Onoden sign, and take the escalator, stairs or lift to the 4th floor; the café is at the back of Gee!Store.

Gee!Store Akiba is COSPA's character-apparel and cosplay shop, so you can browse on the way in. If you are new to the station, Akihabara Station exits shows the Electric Town side.

Do you need a reservation for Cure Maid Café?

No. You can walk in. Reservations exist only for holders of a valid Cure Maid Café supporter card: from two days ahead, up to four people, one booking per week, with a 90-minute limit when busy. When it is crowded, the café hands out numbered tickets, either online using GPS or at the counter.

This is the honest section. During popular collab cafés, expect numbered tickets and limits. If you want the quiet tea-room experience, a normal day outside a big collaboration is the better choice.

Is Cure Maid Café good for first-timers?

Yes, if you want a café-first experience: you order food and tea, and staff serve in classic uniform. Walk-ins are welcome, and payment by card or phone is easy.

If you shop tax-free in the district, from 1 November 2026 you pay the tax at the till and get it back after a customs check at the airport. For Love Live! fans, the shrine from the first series, Kanda Myojin, is a short walk away.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Cure Maid Café in Akihabara? On the 4th floor of the Onoden Building, 1-2-7 Sotokanda, inside Gee!Store Akiba.

Is Cure Maid Café the first maid café? It was founded in 2001 and describes itself as Japan's first maid café.

Do I need a reservation for Cure Maid Café? No. Walk-ins are welcome; reservations are only for supporter-card members. Numbered tickets are used when busy.

Is Cure Maid Café in Love Live!? The café says it appears in the TV anime Love Live! and Saekano as a model location.

Does Cure Maid Café take cards? Yes. Cards, IC cards, e-money and QR payments, including UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Tea at Cure Maid, the rest of Akihabara around it

A maid café is an hour you can plan on your own. If you would like the rest of Akihabara chosen around the series you love, Adventure in Akihabara with Anime is my private half-day walk, three to four hours, never shared with other guests. The price is on the tour page.

About the author. I am Yuuki, a Japanese teacher and Akihabara anime tour guide based in Tokyo. I run private anime tours here most weeks, rated 4.96★ on Airbnb across 171 reviews. I have watched over 1,500 anime series, which is either a qualification or a warning depending on your point of view.

See the Akihabara anime tour →

Sources: Cure Maid Café, Top page (founded 2001; "Japan's first maid café"; classic uniforms; relaxing concept; Love Live! and Saekano; tea certification; food; goods; current and next collab dates), Shop information (address; directions from the Electric Town gate; payment; no smoking; numbered tickets; supporter card) and Reservations (supporter-card members only; two days ahead; up to four; one per week; 90 minutes when busy; walk-ins welcome); COSPA, Gee!Store Akiba (same floor; Cure Maid Café). All checked 4 October 2026. Opening hours and prices are deliberately not given.