This is an old report, but I just stumbled upon it. UK magazine the Guardian had a piece on a manga-themed cafe in Tokyo. The theme? Shonen-ai/Yaoi (boys-love), with pretty male waiters dressed as schoolboys.

More than 100 men, mostly aspiring actors or models, applied for the 30 or so positions at Edelstein when it opened late last year. The successful candidates were chosen for their androgynous looks and ability to play their part in bizarre, but harmless, rituals taken straight from the pages of a manga comic.

Sakamaki, 27, a manga addict, said the cafe is based on a cult comic from the 1970s set in a boarding school in Germany. ‘It’s pure fiction, of course,’ he says. ‘The boys here are chosen because they are cute - beautiful even - and the way they talk and behave is something you don’t normally see.’

The Guardian is a huge mainstream news source, and I have to say I was surprised to see it talking about anything that mentioned the words “boy-love”. But I guess the world is changing. I’m sure those fangirls in Japan are loving it. The cafe is located in Harajuku, and is apparently so popular that customers have to book ahead of time to get a spot.

Old news, I know. But it’s been a while since I made a Yaoi-related post ^_^

Read the whole story on the Edelstein Cafe in Tokyo

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