Anime Industry Watching Vol.31: Hitomi Tateno, owner of "Sasayuri Cafe" where you can touch original animation drawings, talks about her life in animation.

Sasayuri Cafe, located in front of Nishiogikubo Station in Tokyo, offers a simple yet enriching experience: picking up original animation drawings and flipping through them with your own hands. However, the cafe does not always have original animation drawings on display, and is currently holding a gallery exhibition of Moyoco Anno's manga "Ochibisan" (Ochibisan). In the past, the gallery has held exhibitions of original art by popular animators such as Kenichi Yoshida, Tetsuya Nishio, and Yoh Yoshinari.
The owner, Hitomi Tateno, is a veteran animator who worked as a video checker at Studio Ghibli. She was in charge of almost all of Ghibli's animated films, including "My Neighbor Totoro," "Omohide Poroporo," and "Ponyo on the Cliff. What were his thoughts in making the transition from animator to café owner?

The dissolution of Ghibli was a chance to start something new.

─ Studio Ghibli's film production division was dismantled in 2014. It was at the end of that year that Sasuyuri Cafe opened.

Tateno: I think the dissolution of the production department was announced to the company when we had finished work on "The Wind Rises" (2013) and were about to start production on "Marnie: A Memoir" (2014). While I was working on "Marnie," I kept thinking about what I would do after I left Ghibli. I was old enough to know that the Galapagos-like production environment at Ghibli and the way of doing moving images at other production companies were different, and I felt that it would be difficult to make a living in the moving image business again, and that I might give up. Fortunately, I was told that I would receive a severance package, so I decided to take the opportunity to start something different. While working as a video checker, there was a time when I dreamed of one day opening a curry stand. However, when I thought about it in concrete terms, I realized that a curry stand would be hard work and not very profitable. As I consulted with my partner, who had experience in the restaurant business, we began to discuss the idea of a café that would also serve alcohol in the evening. Also, there is a wonderful café in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, which I admire. ......A number of things came together, and we decided to open a café.

───Why did you open a store in Nishiogikubo?

Tateno: Because there are so many unique, privately owned stores. It has the atmosphere of the old Kichijoji, and I felt it was the perfect place to open the kind of unusual café I wanted.

Tateno: So it's not because of the proximity to an animation company?

Tateno No, I had no idea that there were so many animation companies in Ogikubo and Nishiogikubo. ...... (laughs).


─ ─ So you did not choose Nishiogikubo to make it easier to hold exhibitions of original animation works?

Tateno: Yes, that was not my intention at all at first. It was intended to be a very ordinary café, where we would display works of art if the artists expressed a desire to do so. I didn't advertise the fact that I was from Ghibli, and I didn't want to rely on the prestige of the past to run the business. Because of this, even people in the neighborhood didn't know about the existence of the store. However, while talking with the local "Nishiogi Information Center," I was advised that since I was an animator, I should do an exhibit related to animation.
My first exhibition was Kenichi Yoshida's solo show, and it all started when Mr. Yoshida came to the store and said to me on his way out, "You can do a gallery or something. I thought it was just lip service, since Mr. Yoshida was my senior at Ghibli in terms of age. But when I was advised by the "Nishiogi Information Center," I remembered Mr. Yoshida's one word of advice, "It's fine. Mr. Yoshida gave me a quick yes, and his wife copied a large number of pictures by hand and filed them away for the exhibition.

─ -When we finally opened the exhibition, it was extremely crowded. You had to get a numbered ticket to get in.

Tateno: I knew that Mr. Yoshida was very popular, but I was surprised when I saw the number of customers. But I was grateful that the store's income was better. Even after that, rather than negotiating on my own, I was supported by the people around me, and the next exhibition was decided upon from a little coincidence.

───So, do you have a plan for the next exhibition, such as asking this person to help you boost the gallery (......)?

Tateno: No. I have no plan at all. I have no plan at all, I'm ashamed to say (laughs).