[Culture]Une première boutique au monde de bas long au Japon : une histoire culturel Otaku!!

Next month, a store dedicated to thigh-high socks is opening in Tokyo's geek district, Akihabara. That's right, only thigh-high socks.
Website Radio Kaikan reports that the shop is called "Zettai Ryoiki" (絶対領域) and opens on February 8. That's "Knee-High Day," an unofficial holiday and a Japanese pun on "two" (二 or "ni") and "eight" (八 or "hachi").
The term "zettai ryoiki" literally means "absolute territory," but is a geek term for the area of exposed flesh between high socks and a hemline. This type of leg wear often appears in anime, manga, and video games.

According to the shop, which claims to be the first of its kind in the world, there aren't many retailers who carry knee-high socks in Akihabara. And seeing how those threads are mainstays for maids and cosplayers, Zettai Ryoiki definitely hopes to fill that territory.
When Zettai Ryoiki opens, the store plans to have over a hundred different kinds of knee-high socks in stock, with them starting at 300 yen (around US$3) per leg, as well as hair bands and other original goods.
Staffer Jun gives a sneak peek at Zettai Ryoiki's inventory.

And a view outside the shop (courtesy of AkibaDailyNews):

La culturel japonaise Otaku sur les bas long remonte a loin dans les débuts et il y avais toute un culte et une philosophie sur le sujet qui ce que l'on appellerais en anglais ''absolute territory'' (territoire absolue??) et qui veux signifier dans la culture japonaise la zone délimité dénudé de la jambe entre le bas et la jupe.

Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, le culte des jambes est quelque chose de gros au Japon, les filles et femmes asiatique n'ayant rarement de grande poitrine... elles mettent plus d'emphase et de séduction sur les jambes (souvent reflété dans les animes et manga avec des filles aux longues jambes)

Et maaan, que les Japonaises en on tel de belle jambes hein!! grrrrr   

Bref, l'histoire des bas longs et de cette fameuse zone appeler ''zettai ryoiki'' (absolute territory) en fais parti.

Dans l'article ci-haut, on fais mention d'une journée non officiel au Japon du zettai ryoiki.  Un peu genre comme la journée national ici du ''sans facebook'' (passé une journée sans aller sur facebook) ou la journée national ici du ''sans mobile'' (passé une journée déconnecter de votre portable, téléphone intelligent, tablette).

Je ne vais pas vous traduire comme je fais d'habitude, mais voici une article supplémentaire sur le phénomène de cette belle zone de la jambe féminine.... et oh!!! les gars, vous ne pouvez pas y participé, désolé!!

Literally, the Japanese phrase "zettai ryouiki" (絶対領域) means "absolute territory". But for Japanese geeks, it means something else—but something nonetheless absolute. The term refers to the area of exposed flesh between high socks and a hemline.

This is a location that's often fetishized in anime and manga—and soon, it'll be a fetishized for advertising.
The term zettai ryouiki originally appeared in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion in reference to a barrier called the "AT Field", but its meaning has since changed in Japanese geekdom, now referring to that area of exposed skin.
There is even a scale that "grades" the various levels of zettai ryouiki. For example, thigh-high socks and a skirt score an "A", while ankle socks and a skirt would get the lowest grade, as they are not zettai ryouiki.
Attempting to cash in on this craze, a Japanese marketing firm is launching "zettai ryouiki koukoku" or "absolute territory PR" by putting out helped wanted notices. There are three criteria for prospective thigh flashers: You must be a female; you must be over 18; and you must have over 20 "connections" on your social networking site, whether that's Facebook, Twitter, or Mixi.
Males cannot apply. Sorry, fellas.
It's a one day gig, during which you'll wear a sticker on your thigh, and participants will get paid between ¥1,000 and ¥10,000 (US$13 to $128). You'll need to be photographed in at least two different locations and then upload those photos on a social networking site.
This marketing stunt is clearly a way to drum up publicity (it's working!), and I guess it's better than trying to get women to put stickers on their chest. I guess. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of those willing to partake, either. The marketing company has been overwhelmed with applications and is currently not accepting new ones for the time being.

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Akihabara. The mere mention of it conjures images of retro game shops, arcades, aisles of manga and maids, yes, maids. Wouldn't it be great to visit them? Like, right now?
If you live in Tokyo, that's a clinch. But for the rest of the world, visiting Akihabara isn't so easy. Enter Akihabara 360 Map, Google Street view for otaku (geeks). Like Google Street View, it offers a panoramic pavement look at the Akihabara area, but denotes local maid and manga cafes.

The page is largely in Japanese, but has enough English that non-Japanese speakers can click their way through. By clicking on the maid cafe icon, visitors can check out the insides of maid-run coffee shops, bars, relaxation spaces and even hair salons.
Maid cafes hit it big in Japan around 2003 and 2004. They were, and still are, standard cafes staffed by maids. Patrons can pay extra money to take a photo with them or play paper-rock-scissors with the polite maids. "There was a real flowering of otaku culture around then," says Tokyo-based game translator Matt Alt, who's authored several books on Japanese culture, including Ninja Attack! "At that time, otaku stopped being in the closet."
"At that time, otaku stopped being in the closet."
Around that time, otaku, who were traditionally viewed as creepy and insular, went mainstream, thanks in part to the popularity of Train Man.
Maids have been regular figures in otaku popular culture for decades, but it wasn't until the turn of the century that cafes featuring them exploded across Akihabara. During the late 1990s, promotions for the Japanese computer game "Welcome to Pia Carrot" included a temporary restaurant in 1999. By 2001, famed maid coffee shop, or "maid kissa" as they're called in Japanese, Cure Maid Cafe opened in Akihabara. It's success inspired other maid cafes. Their success, in turn, inspired other types of maid-staffed businesses like maid aroma therapy, spaces to play the PS3 or Wii Fit with maids as well as legitimate (and not so legitimate) massage parlors. "Maid cafes are essentially hostess bars for otaku," Alt points out.

The proto-maid cafe was "Anna Miller's", a pie house that served coffe. Anna Miller's was a chain of Pennsylvania Dutch-style restaurants from Hawaii that had waitresses dressed in outfits who accentuated their bosom, much like Hooters. While initially it was not for otaku, Alt says, the chain quickly became populated with them. The Anna Miller's uniform became iconic among otaku, inspiring waitress uniforms in video games and anime. The waitress outfit in Konami's love sim Love Plus, for example, is inspired by Anna Miller's. The chain has largely been overrun by the maid cafes it inspired.
For those who haven't visited a maid cafe before, fire up Akihabara 360 Map, pan around, zoom in, absorb the sights. It's cheaper than a game of paper-rock-scissors.