Japanese-style “maid cafés” have become a common sight in China’s major cities over the past few years. But the future of these controversial b

China Moves Toward Ban on Japanese-Style ‘Maid Cafés’

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2024-04-23 13:00:05

Japanese-style “maid cafés” have become a common sight in China’s major cities over the past few years. But the future of these controversial businesses is now under threat, after a Chinese court ruled that they are illegal on multiple grounds.

Maid cafés — venues where male customers are served by female staff, usually dressed in skimpy outfits — first became popular in China in the late 2010s. Though they are no longer as fashionable as they were then, there are still thousands of them operating all over the country.

The original case against maid cafés was brought by a local procuratorate in the eastern city of Yiwu, which launched a large-scale investigation in the wake of a sexual assault case in a local venue in 2023.

Local officials found that hundreds of cafés and e-sports venues in Yiwu were offering maid café-style services, with female servers forced to kneel to serve tea, massage male customers, and shout “Welcome home, my master!” to anyone entering.

The procuratorate brought a public interest lawsuit to a local court, arguing that such services “belittle and damage women’s rights to human dignity.” They also said that some local businesses had failed to take measures to protect their female staff from sexual harassment.