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Only a Matter of Time 'Til Samurai Cafes

If you've been paying attention here, you already know about Japan's latest craze.


Samurai!
Samurai!
Picture it: you walk into a cafe in Akihabara, but instead of a standard white tile floor, cheap tables and chairs, and moe girls on the walls, you get tatami mats and low tables to sit seiza at. And instead of cute maids coming to serve you, you get a young man in traditional feudal-era armor.

It hasn't actually happened yet (although there is a " samurai maid cafe" that fuses the two concepts), but it's probably only a matter of time, given that samurai have been coming back in style in a big way in Japan. If you've been watching closely you've probably already witnessed it, with samurai pedometers and boxers and the aforementioned maid cafe and all, but the Straits Times makes it official: Japan is in the midst of a samurai craze.

Why? Well, the video games, movies, and dramas that have been popular of late have helped, but according to the S-T:
"...some social observers also say the trend reflects a deeper yearning for potent leaders in a country fatigued by recession and uninspired by a bland political system dominated by two centrist mainstream parties."
  So, I guess the US should be in a samurai craze, too, eh? ( Via AICN Anime.)
Sigueon Sept. 1, 2009 at 10:52 a.m.
Being served tea by the One-Eyed Dragon would basically be a dream come true.

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Samurais were warriors of feudal japan

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