Skip the guilt of camping at a coffee shop and work for hours at this staffless oasis.

While cafes are fantastic places to call in on your day off for a light meal while you’re doing your errands, many people also like to use them as a “remote office” or study location, often spending many hours sitting at a table. Ordinarily this doesn’t pose much of a problem, but in the larger cities, with a lot more foot traffic, the sense of guilt of occupying a table for so long can get a little too much when you see person after person coming in, forming a snaking line as they wait for a free table while you enjoy your fifth coffee of the day. That’s to say nothing of the rising prices of both food and drink at cafes and restaurants, which can make your wallet feel the pinch if you’re just looking for a calm environment in which to work.

The company Wood Design Park, known for handling glamping and barbecue sites, have come up with their own solution to this issue by opening up an unmanned cafe, known as Self Cafe, in 2022.

Now, four years later, there are approximately 60 stores nationwide, with four of them being in Tokyo—the latest of which is the Shibuya Jinnan branch.

Arriving outside of the Shibuya Jinnan store, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little confused when you’re confronted with a very ordinary office building. The only giveaway that there’s a cafe there at all is the sign at the entrance saying, “unmanned cafe equipped with Wi-Fi and power outlets.”

Descending to the basement via the elevator, you’ll come across the shop, but knowing that there are no staff on the other side of the door to welcome you can make you hesitate and feel unsure of whether you’re actually allowed to be there or not. There’s even a facial recognition system at the entrance, presumably to prevent people from taking advantage of the system, but it just adds to the sense of unease. At least you don’t have to go through any registration process.

Stepping through the door and into the cafe though, the atmosphere immediately changes from the feeling of heavy security to a wide, open space where the ceilings are high and the lighting bright.

The method to use the cafe is relatively simple: buy a drink, which starts from 420 yen (US$2.64), from the vending machine, and you can stay for as many hours as you like.

According to the official website, there are also shops that are open 24 hours, at which you can stay for a maximum of 24 hours. If you want to stay longer, you simply purchase another drink, but you must be nearing the deadline of the century if you want to stay that long, since these shops are not intended as a comfortable lodging facility.

They even sell Lady Borden ice cream next to the vending machine, but just purchasing ice cream alone does not grant permission to use the seating, so be sure to pick up a drink as well.

Another few factors to take into consideration are that payments are cashless only, you are not allowed to bring in any food or drink from outside, you can’t be away from your seat or leave your belongings for a long time, and that this branch in particular is located in the basement, so some mobile carriers might have some connectivity issues, in which case you can just use the shop’s Wi-Fi.

Each table is fully equipped with power outlets and USB ports, much like a typical internet cafe.

However, what is particularly thoughtful is that there are wireless chargers embedded into the desks, so you can charge your smartphone just by placing it down, without having to fiddle around with cables.

Sitting in this space, you can concentrate freely, without having to worry about imposing on the business of a cafe or restaurant. If you’re prone to getting easily distracted at home, this place is likely to be very helpful to you.

If you happen to come with someone, it’s perfectly fine to have a conversation, as long as you keep it within a range that does not bother others surrounding you.

For being a place where you can comfortably spend several hours for just 420 yen, it feels like the deal is too good to be true. It’s an intriguing experience, so if you are tired from walking around Shibuya or you just want to focus deeply on your work, go ahead and give this place a try.

Cafe information
Self Cafe Shibuya Jinnan-ten / セルフカフェ 渋谷神南店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jinnan 1-19-14, Crystal Point B2-kai
東京都渋谷区神南1-19-14 クリスタルポイントB2階
Open: 6:00 a.m.–2:00 a.m.
Website

Related: Self Cafe, Wood Design Park
Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]