"Maid" waitresses visit Taiwan to promote tourism

A group of young women working as waitresses at "maid cafes" have left for Taiwan in a bid to lure tourists to Osaka, western Japan.

The 8 young women attended a ceremony at Kansai Airport in Osaka on Friday before their departure for Taiwan.

The waitresses have been chosen to represent the cosplay restaurants known as "maid cafes" in Osaka's Nipponbashi district.

Maid cafes originated in Tokyo's Akihabara district, patronized by the young male fans of anime, manga comics and computer games for which the area is famous.

Waitresses at such cafes are typically clad in the costumes of popular anime and computer game characters. Typically, they play the role of a house servant, flattering their customer, who is addressed as "master."

The group that departed on Friday will demonstrate their unique hospitality skills at a maid cafe in Taipei. They will also attend Taiwan's largest anime and comics event, taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

The trip is also aimed at attracting tourists to Kansai Airport. The airport saw a 44 percent drop in the number of travelers in June from a year earlier due to the global economic slowdown and the outbreak of the new influenza.