I shocked my coworkers the other day.

We were talking about how Japanese Pop Culture is perceived in the West; and while they knew manga and anime to be wildly popular all over the world, they were quite surprised to realize cosplay and hentai had also become common words in English.

To prove my point, I showed them some Western cosplay websites... Their incredulity soon turned into gasps of horror as they looked at page after page of Westerners dressed as anime or videogame characters, and when they saw the list of cosplay conventions all over the world. You see, Japanese people are not really proud of their "weirdoes", be they otaku technology geeks, hentai fetishists, or "strange dressers" of the many kinds available in Japan. Most Japanese people are very proud of Japan's homogeneity and correctness; and as such they are rather nonplussed when they discover that Westerners see Japan as "cool" because it's a land of strangely-dressed, tentacle-rape fantasizing computer geeks. And try as I might, I couldn't convince them that "Weird Japan" was way cooler than their image of hard-working, honest and polite office workers creating the best DVD players in the world.

DVD players, he he. All the better to watch hentai anime with, my child...

Cosplay Yakiniku??

Have you ever heard of the "Morning Musume"? They aren't as popular as they used to be, but they still have a cult following: the Musume are Japan's answer to the Spice Girls, a group of supercute 15 year-old girls singing some canned lyrics and dancing to some canned tunes. Their lyrics make the Backstreet Boys sound like Jane Austen. But who cares! They're supercute.

How would you like girls dressed as Morning Musume to wait on you at a barbecued meat restaurant?

Not too much? So how about Budweiser girls? Nurses in sexy outfits? Flight attendants? Anime heroins? High School girls? French maids?

Welcome to the world of Cosplay Yakiniku Tabehodai, a very popular style of restaurants here in Japan. The principle is simple: it's a rather inexpensive all-you-can-eat grilled meat restaurant, staffed by girls dressed as something cute, funny or exotic. It might sound childish, kinky or simply surreal (Nurse! Some more sirloin please!), but for Japanese people it makes sense: food, drinks and cute/sexy girls have always been considered a perfect combination for a merry evening with friends or colleagues. And don't think Cosplay Restaurants are only for men either: Japanese girls have a very broad definition of what is "cute" or "fun", and if a Cosplay Restaurant is known for its lively atmosphere, they will just flock there without second thoughts.

And you know what? I think Japanese people have a point there. If it's fun, just go for it!