Maimai Devil (Maimai Debiru) is a concept cafe in Shinjuku Kabukicho. It kept popping up so often on social media that I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I simply had to go check it out.
*From a TikTok video: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS27eBCQj
I walked toward the shop along Kuyakusho-dori, one of the liveliest streets in Kabukicho. I'd heard that girls walking here get constantly approached by hosts and touts, but I figured an old guy like me would just get ignored. Instead, one shady character after another came up to me, peddling suspicious DVDs and pushing touts that radiated nothing but danger.
Finally I made it to Maimai Devil (Maimai Debiru) concept cafe in Shinjuku Kabukicho. Wait, Kakuyasu (the liquor store)?! Yes, it's on the second floor of that building.
Soan Bldg. 2F, 2-21-17 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0021
It's very easy to find. There's a batting center next door, so anyone who knows Kabukicho even a little shouldn't get lost. By the way, if you don't like crowded streets, I recommend going from Higashi-Shinjuku Station. Google Maps shows it as a 9-minute walk from Shinjuku Station, but only 6 minutes from Higashi-Shinjuku Station, which is actually the closer route.
Maimai Devil (Maimai Debiru) concept cafe in Shinjuku Kabukicho is actually pioneering a new genre within the history of concept cafes. Regulations on concept cafes in Kabukicho have become extremely strict lately, and to operate legally, a concept cafe must obtain a Type 1 entertainment business license. In other words, legally speaking, it falls under the same category as a hostess club.
However, even though Maimai Devil (Maimai Debiru) concept cafe in Shinjuku Kabukicho has obtained the Type 1 license, the girls never sit beside you; the service is strictly face-to-face, no different from a traditional concept cafe's style. Because it's a concept cafe where the girls stand across the table and never sit next to you, in that sense you could say it's easier to talk with the cast than at other concept cafes.