It’s not that I can’t concentrate … the fact that I haven’t got anything done is my problem.” “It’s nothing to do with the environment, I just can’t come up with any good ideas at the moment. The manga artist had arrived more than two hours earlier, but had so far drawn a blank. Seated to my left, Shizuku Kino conceded that she was struggling. “As a result, what they thought would take a day was actually completed in three hours, or tasks that usually take three hours were done in one.” “Instead of monitoring them, I’m here to support them,” he said. The mild-mannered 52-year-old, who is a technical writer when he is not cajoling his customers to buckle down, dismissed concerns among some social media users that his tactics were heavy-handed. Those who ask for the “mild” option will simply be asked how they got on when they pay at the end of the session others in need of a heavier dose of discipline can expect him to occasionally stand behind them, although he insists he makes no value judgments on the contents of their laptop screen. They can also ask Kawai to nag them about their progress. Photograph: no creditĬustomers must write their name, writing goals and the time they plan to finish. The Guardian’s Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, writes a draft of this article at the Manuscript Writing cafe in Tokyo.
