Giving up on the restaurant industry to work in public relations for a host club… The future of a cake shop owner in Kabukicho, which is open only at night
This is a town where the American dream can come true.
In Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district, a “night cake café” that is open from 5:00 pm to 12:00 am is attracting attention.
The owner is a woman of many talents. Megumi Takeno, 45, has 18 years of experience as a hostess at first-class hotels and high-class Japanese restaurants in Paris, London, and Ginza, five years of experience in public relations at a major host club in Kabukicho, and is also certified as an “advanced SNS expert.
The restaurant opened last November and has quadrupled in size in just one year. But why Kabukicho of all places?
Continuing from Part I, we asked Mr. Takeno, who says, “Kabukicho is a place where the American dream can come true,” about the secret to his success.
Simply getting the word out doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get more customers.
Employees are working hard to promote the store on social networking sites. Two of the most popular on Instagram are “Kacchan and Hiyori. Before Kacchan came here, he went to a host club and got into debt. He graduated from a confectionery school, so he has a license, and his nighttime lifestyle makes him a good fit for the hours of operation. He also likes Kabukicho, so he came for an interview.
When I first met her, she had red hair on one side and blue on the other, and she was wearing a miniskirt and high heels. Her mother came with her, and it was a three-way interview. She said, ‘Is this restaurant OK? It’s in Kabukicho, but is my daughter going to be okay? She was very concerned. I see the mother regularly (laughs).
I thought she would quit soon, but Kacchan did not quit. Patissier is a behind-the-scenes job, and once the cakes are displayed in the showcase, customers often don’t get to see them actually being eaten, but here they can see inside the store through the counter of the work area.
But here, customers can see the inside of the shop through the work counter. Knowing that makes me happy, I enjoy my job. My appearance has changed drastically, and I don’t go to host clubs anymore.
Hiyori, another popular guy, is a transvestite. Kabukicho is a town where various genders gather. Many of the customers are also transgendered.
Hiyori and I were originally friends. I was working at a bar in Shinjuku 2-chome when I wanted to graduate from my job of drinking until morning. I asked her if she wanted to work at a cake shop because I wanted all kinds of people to come to my shop. I persuaded him and brought him here (laughs).
In addition to the videos of Kacchan and Hiyori, both of whom have strong personalities, Mr. Takeno does all the final checks on the videos he distributes, including the Insta-live videos.
Even if you just send out something interesting, whether or not it gets buzz and brings in customers is another thing. The customer demographics change depending on how the buzz is generated, so we pay attention to that.
In addition to videos, the use of Insta and X In addition to videos, there are other ideas for using Instagram and X. For example, cakes are displayed in glassware with legs. For example, the cake is served in a glass bowl with legs.
The cake is served on a glass plate with legs, for example, which is a particular touch. Everyone takes pictures vertically, so I chose a vertical bowl.
In the past, the host club invited children to summer festivals…flexible ideas that lead to the revitalization of the town.
Mr. Takeno’s ideas keep coming, one after another, but his career path to this point is also interesting.
At first, he worked in various jobs at hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton and Hilton, including banquet, lounge, and front desk. Eventually, she was assigned to a Japanese restaurant in a hotel because “I can dress up in kimono,” and her work as a hostess began.
While working at the hotel, she began to feel that not being able to speak English would be difficult from a sales standpoint, so she trained at ryotei restaurants in London and Paris, learned the language, and returned to Japan. He returned to Japan and trained at restaurants in London and Paris, where he learned the language. However, his salary did not increase at all, and just as he was about to give up on the restaurant business, he was scouted by one of his customers.
I thought he might be from an entertainment agency because he always brought men who looked like models. So I went to talk to him and found out he was from a host club.
I thought, ‘Oh, I’ve never been to one and I don’t really like them, so what should I do?
My job, so to speak, is public relations. After seeing the events she worked on when she was hostess, her planning ability seemed to have caught the eye of the company, and she was asked to “do something to liven things up.
I started posting funny stories on SNS about how I played host clubs and how I was a corporate animal, and I started getting a lot of press coverage. Eventually, a brand called Marc Jacobs chose us as the venue for an after-party for their spring/summer collection, and we ended up holding a one-night fashion show with Tetsuya Komuro as DJ, which attracted celebrities from all over the world.
During his time at the host club, he did not only organize glittering events, but also volunteered for children.
We had children from an orphanage come to the restaurant and hosted several events like summer festivals. We had a tower of orange juice and a pool filled with candy in a gorgeous, luxurious space.”
The staff at the facility were often prejudiced against us just because we were a host club. Nevertheless, they did not give up and approached several host clubs because they knew what was going on inside the clubs.
There are a lot of people who come from host clubs. It is still a good thing if they can go to host clubs, but many of them end up working as anti-competitors or doing black market jobs such as Oreore scams.
So, I don’t mean to sound like a waterfront measure, but I was told, “Major groups have a surprisingly solid system. If you are going to be involved in such a situation, please come to our group, and you can count on us if you need anything. It’s easy to give things or money, but I wanted to give them a more memorable experience than that.”
It was during the COVID-19 crisis that he started his own business as an expert in social networking. Many of his friends around him were in the restaurant business, so he taught them how to use SNS, and before he knew it, it had become his job. From there, the story of how he opened his cake shop can be found at …….
As I supported various companies and restaurants through SNS, it occurred to me. I thought, ‘I should start my own shop,’ and I decided to start a cake shop, which is what I had wanted to do for a long time. So I thought, ‘I’d like to open a store myself,’ and I started a cake shop, which I had wanted to do for a long time.
While valuing “fun work” above all else, the company has been realizing “what it would be like to have” one after another.
With Christmas coming up in December, the Shortcake Company is getting busier and busier, but what does Ms. Takeno want to do in the future?
The old store is downstairs on the first floor, and I am thinking of remodeling it and putting in a showcase to make it a take-out store. The cakes we serve at the store are made with delicate cream, so we can’t take them out. However, many people have told me after eating them that they want to buy them to take home because they are so delicious. I would like to devise a takeout cake with a different cream mixture.
Having seen people who were motivated but gave up because they didn’t fit in the work environment work with vigor and enthusiasm, he has a strong desire to open something other than cake stores.
Outside of Kabukicho, he is also considering opening a dog café in a residential area. In Europe, you can take your dog into supermarkets and on trains. Even in three-star restaurants, there are places that say, ‘Children are not allowed, but dogs are. But in Japan, most dog cafes are only on terraces.
I have a dog myself. I don’t want to eat in a cold place like a terrace. In the area where I live, there are not even any cafes, so everyone just walks around with their dogs. I thought if I could create a place where people could take a break and relax, it would be very popular.
I want to create a place where people say, “I wish there was something like this here. I think that’s probably what everyone feels. I wish there was a ramen shop here, a clothing store here, a supermarket here, and so on. I think it’s a matter of whether or not you do it.
If next year you find a niche store that you have always wished existed, it may be Ms. Takeno’s work.
Megumi Takeno is the owner of Shortcake Company. Representative Director of Midorita Co. Senior SNS Expert (SNS Expert Association). an expert in SNS operation, consulting, and corporate training, Ms. Takeno lectures at the Japan Self-Defense Forces and Takashimaya Department Store, and serves as an SNS operation agent and advisor to many restaurants, personal gyms, celebrities, etc. She is also a member of the “Michelin Guide Tokyo” and a member of the “Michelin Guide Tokyo”. After working as the proprietress of a two-star Michelin Guide Tokyo restaurant in Ginza and in Kabukicho marketing public relations, she started her own SNS marketing business, which was incorporated in August 2021. Author of “The World’s Easiest Textbook for Attracting and Managing Customers on Twitter, 1st Grade” (Soteksha).
Interview and text： Ide Chimasa PHOTO： Sugizo
