cutie relax (maid massage) review

01 Jan, 2025

by the 9th day of my trip in japan, i realized that i didn't have anything planned out— and after spending that 9th day visiting the cup noodle museum and japanese overseas migration museum, i realized that it would be nice to have a relaxing experience that i couldn't get elsewhere, such as an onsen massage or ear cleaning.

of course, those things require reservations and i was moping in akihabara's KFC at 7:45pm. searching for "massage places in akihabara", i found the maid massage store cutie relax, made a LINE reservation for 9pm, and got a prompt confirmation message.

cutie relax is just a 5-10 minutes walk away from akihabara, so it's ultra convenient to visit if you're in the area. the parlor itself is inside a regular multi-story building. there's no signage beyond a generic namecard, so you can't tell it's a maid massage place from afar. it's discreet but feels kinda shady!¹

the elevator up goes directly to the cutie relax entrance, not a hallway. the owner— an older blond guy— greets you as soon as you enter and seats you in the waiting room.

the atmosphere, in short, is completely different to any other massage parlor.

i've only been to cheap hole-in-the-wall places before, but no matter how inexpensive, they always have the goal to be 'relaxing' and 'calm'. unlike those, cutie relax is decked head to toe in anime paraphernalia and the lights are insanely bright and there's loud anime music blasting constantly.

once you sit down, the owner asks you to choose a massage option. you can decide between:

1. foot massage
2. hand massage
3. shoulder & face massage

or get a combo that combines 2 or all 3. check the website for more pricing information.

i think i chose the double basic course (hand and shoulders/face) for 6800 yen for 60 minutes. the cost was comparable to massages of a similar length in new zealand (at least for the places i visit), but the service was completely different.

after selecting your course, the owner shows you to one of the sectioned massage areas and you meet the masseuse. it was at this point that i realized it really was a maid massage service.

like anyone who goes to akihabara, i visited a english-option maid cafe with friends but i found it overbearing and lacking at the same time. it was like paying extra for noisy music and overpriced desserts that didn't taste that good and we hardly interacted with the waitress.

cutie relax is a good alternative for english speakers who want that experience of a cute girl talking to you while dressed up as a maid. but she doesn't call you master or anything lol.

instead, the girls who work at cutie relax will talk to you about your favorite anime and video games and idolshit! the experience of talking to a massause isn't unusual but here you can have free reign to yap about your hobbies instead of about how your work is stressful.

so that was fun— the girl was sweet and we spoke in english about what i was doing in japan and the japanese media i liked. i was amused that she seemed to be my age but didn't know what cardcaptor sakura was— maybe it's oldschool in japan? the owner also talked to us behind the screen, so if privacy is a big deal to you then i'd probably say don't go here.²

as for the massage: it wasn't great. again, the setting seems designed to be as insanely unrelaxing as possible what with the gaudy anime merch on the walls, the loud music, the super bright lighting, the owner also being there for your massage. but on top of that, there's no massage table, so you'll be sitting upright in an armchair for the majority of the experience. iirc i also sat on some shorter chair or stool for the shoulder massage section. basically, it's not a conventional massage setting at all.

the masseuse also clearly had no idea what she was doing and it was lowkey painful. they don't hire the masseusees based on actual massage experience, so i think she was just a cute college student who needed some extra money.

that being said, i still think the price was well worth it. 6800 yen is already on the lower end for hour-long massages and it's much more about the experience of talking to people than it is the massage.

the only other thing is that they insist on cash rather than card, so make sure you take out money at the ATM beforehand.

overall, it's a unique experience that you should try if you're already in the area and have nothing else pre-planned. for english speakers, it's more engaging than going to a maid cafe and making a reservation is easy as. that being said the actual massage won't be very relaxing so if you're looking for that you should try to reserve a spot at a different massage parlor.

#review