It’s not scary at all (laughing)!

I’ll make you some coffee.

Basically, the “Koenji Sankakuchitai” is a video editing studio. It was formerly a restaurant with all of the furnishings still remaining, so I left the genuine atmosphere of the Italian bar intact, and made it available to a wide category of customers as a studio.

However, during weekday afternoons, I would end up with these unavoidable blocks of “unused time” that would become available. As the owner of a business, you want to make efficient use of that time, right? So, I tried to think of something interesting, and that’s how I came up with the “Video Editing Cafe.”That’s it.

I had a restaurant license as well, so at first I was thinking of serving food and drinks, and I had no professional rivals in that arena, but since it was primarily counter seating, and considering the pandemic, it would have been difficult to attract customers. I also thought about opening it up as a coworking space as well, but there were already plenty of such spaces in the Koenji area available at dirt cheap rates.

I was thinking about how I could utilize the unique features of this place, and create something that had value that couldn’t be found anywhere else, and that’s when I came up with the idea that “it would be cool if I could operate it as a place run by a stubborn, hard-headed old man.”

Places run by hard-headed old men are sort of intimidating at first, but once you’re hooked, it becomes comfortable, don’t you think? I wanted to recreate that kind of atmosphere. If it could become a place where creators could stream their content, it would make things fun for me as well, and it would give significance to having it operate out of here.

Once I decided on a direction, I thought up a bunch of different names, like Creators’ Lab, or Videographer Lounge, but instead of trying to be cool, I just named it “Video Editing Cafe” — something simple and easy to understand.

And then, I added the rule that “you can’t leave until you finish your video.” I was imagining a kind of cafe where video editors would gather under the pressure of “I’ve got to finish my work by tomorrow!” I guess that masochistic aspect must have gotten the Twittersphere hooked (laughs).

Since all you need is a notebook computer, these days you can edit video in all kinds of places. But lately, cafes won’t have electrical outlets available, or their Wi-Fi may be slow, or it might start to feel uncomfortable if you’ve stayed for longer than 2 hours, et cetera … You might be willing to work hard, but it’s hard to concentrate in a public place.

So I thought, what kind of place could be comfortable for “video editors?” I looked into what needs they would have, and built the most optimal environment for them.

Furthermore, when you enter, you have to fill out this sheet, and you have to write down your task — what you plan to finish, in how many hours. By doing this, every once in a while, I can drop by, check on them and ask, “So, how is it coming along?”

Some of my customers will raise their hand and report, “Kawai-san, I’ve finished today’s task!” And when that happens, I’ll announce, “〇〇-san has completed his task! Everyone, give him a round of applause!” And I make sure to praise them on their accomplishments.

Even though they may each differ in the content of their work, all of my customers will have the common goal of editing their videos, so they share a unified understanding of how hard it is to do what they do. So they have their brothers-in-arms, and a hard-headed old man who is looking after them, so there is this environment that encourages them to do their best.

Many of them announce “I’ll finish my task in 2 hours!” But the fact is that most of them end up using about 4 hours. Of course, some never finish their tasks, but the important thing is to declare it, and do your best to complete your task.

If they pay ¥150 for every 30 minutes (tax included, only cashless payments accepted), then they can have all the coffee they want, and bringing in your own food and drink is allowed.

There is a convenience store right out front, but once they start editing, most of them enter the zone, and apparently they get so intense, they think “I don’t even want to waste time crossing the intersection!” Lately, more and more of them have been asking, “Kawai-san, could you sell me those drinks you have in the refrigerator (laughs)?”

Whether it’s individuals or businesses, we get all kinds of video creators from all categories.

When you hear the words “video editing,” most people might imagine corporate work, but lately, there has been an increase in individuals who have been hired to edit videos.

There are people who do everything on their own, from editing to streaming, like YouTubers, and then there are other types of YouTubers, who hire freelance creators to edit their videos, and then there are other types, who say, “I’ve got 20videos to edit this month …”

Before, video editing jobs mainly involved companies hiring companies, but nowadays anybody can make a video.

There are more and more jobs now where companies hire individuals, or individuals hire other individuals. And of course, there are also people who come in to edit their college project, or just for fun.

It’s not scary at all! But because it was trending on Twitter, maybe people were being cautious (laughs).

In the future, I’d like to continue building this community — while treating with care this connection with video editors — like sharing tips, or creating a video editing school, etc.

It’s rather difficult with the coronavirus, but when things settle down, I’d like to try creating a “Video Editing Bar.” If it could become a place where like-minded people gather to exchange information and ideas, it would be fun for me as well, and would help expand the community.

Actually, at the moment, I’ve been working on a “Manuscript Writing Cafe,” and talks have been progressing. I’ve been thinking about making more of these types of task-formatted coworking studios.

So, of course, I’ve been considering a writers’ cafe, but I’m also thinking of horizontal expansion, so it could be a photographers’ cafe, a music-making cafe, or a designers’ cafe.

I would ask people who belonged to those communities to be the proprietors, and I think it would be fun if I could build gathering places for creators in all sorts of locations, all over the country.