Ghetto of geeks

No, it’s not your local comic-book shop, it’s a whole damn neighborhood in Tokyo:

At his favorite neighborhood cafe, Shunsuke Yamagata, a college student who proudly calls himself a nerd, smiled shyly behind his horn-rimmed glasses at waitresses hurrying about in black Minnie Mouse shoes and lacy, racy mini-dresses inspired by Japanese comics.

For Yamagata, 20, it was just another night out with the pocket-protector crowd in Tokyo's neon-splashed Akihabara district, where "costume cafes" are the latest of hundreds of new businesses catering to Japan's otaku, or nerds.

[from The Washington Post]

I’ve never owned a pocket protector, and I suspect that no one under 40 ever has -- didn’t they go out with fountain pens? -- and ya just gotta love this: "Eyeglass adjustment kiosks compete for space with shops selling nondescript dress shirts and thick leather shoes."

Yeah, there’s a lot of stereotyping going on, and damn, the only women mentioned are the fuck-me blowup-doll waitresses in the nerd cafes whose "uniforms are inspired by the French maid-meets-Pokemon outfits of adult manga" and those who "greet patrons at the door with a curtsy and the words ‘Welcome home, master.’"

Yuck.

But a couple things leapt out at me:

"Sociologists and urban planners compare the phenomenon to ethnic and social enclaves such as New York's Chinatown or San Francisco's gay Castro district, born of a blend of discrimination and shared cultural cues." Heh! I’m not the only one to suggest that geeks and queers have some problems in common...

"With some analysts estimating the Japanese geek market to be worth as much as $19 billion a year, companies are jostling to cash in."

Aha! So then someone is going to start one of those cafes for girl geeks, where Indiana Jones or Captain Mal Reynolds will greet me at the door with a sardonic grin and the words, "I love a gal who loves adventure"?