Forbidden to take it easy in this anti-laziness coffee. The concept of this cafe in Tokyo, Japan is aimed at a specific clientele, explains Takuya Kawaii, the founder and owner of the Genko Shippitsu Cafe, literally Manuscript Writing Cafe. “It’s a café where only people who have something to write are allowed to enter. But not necessarily a manuscript, it could be a manga, illustrations, a thesis, a screenplay, in short, everything creative work”, explains its creator.
“When you enter, you have to specify the objective that you have set for yourself in a given time and you write it down on a card. As long as this goal is not reached, you don’t go out.”
Takuya Kawaii, founder and owner of Genko Shippitsu Cafeat franceinfo
The idea of this anti-laziness café stems from the observation that, even if a lot of Japanese people who carry out creative tasks work from home, in libraries or cafes, the performance is not there, because we cannot not to concentrate, the environment is not studious enough, nobody checks the progress or encourages. In short. Here, we are deprived of distraction and we have no right to laziness. The boss watches over the grain. “I check the progress of the work every hour, I ask if it has progressed”he confirms.
原稿 執筆 カフェ は 目標 達成 1 回目 で 英語 シール 、 5 回目 で 日本 語 シール を 差し上げ い ます！！ 10 回目 は は お楽しみ に 考え て ない ない と も） 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う 言う pic.twitter.com/hqT4MbrJjB
— 川井拓也（高円寺三角地帯） (@TakuyaKawai) June 7, 2022
At the Genko Shippitsu Cafe, you pay on time, less than five euros for two hours, you drink unlimited coffee or tea, you can bring something to eat, but you have to work. And customers come knowing they will be under pressure. The space has only 9 seats and is only open a few hours a day, but it is almost always full. In 41 days since opening, the establishment has welcomed more than 350 customers. 70% of them are women, the age range is wide, from 20 to over 60 years old. “There are writers, screenwriters, students, translators, editors who check manuscripts”boasts the boss.
It must be said that it is indeed well thought out with at each place an inclined support with laptop fan, network access, electrical outlets and adapters. “It’s the first time I’ve come here, but I plan to come back more often. I think it’s really great”enthuses Lara, a student.
トップ ガン マーヴェリック 鑑賞 済み の お 客 様 を 「封切り 酒場」 は し て おり ます！ （（執筆 カフェ やっ ところ と 同じ よ！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！ pic.twitter.com/IKjw9cwZ30
— 川井拓也（高円寺三角地帯） (@TakuyaKawai) June 5, 2022
Some days, the writing café even turns into a video or audio creation café, a real studio with some of the equipment provided and the same basic principle: working on a specific project in a given time. The boss is also considering extending the hours at night and cooperating with other cafés to create spaces based on the same concept elsewhere.