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The ever popular Girls Night hosted at a sharehouse! |
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You may be quite familiar with the words ‘Girls Night’, but it only came into the Japanese lexicon as ‘Joshi-kai’ in 2008. Did you know that it was such a new word? What began with girl-only gatherings at an izakaya, which is a Japanese version of a bar or pub, has evolved into girls nights in limousines, at hotels, and even at hot spring resorts… many different kinds of ‘girls night’ have sprung forth for women to openly enjoy themselves in a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary environment. Since there are so many different types of girls-only gatherings, we thought it would be great to hold one in a sharehouse, too, and so an event idea was born. With the help of members from female student groups Girls+ and Power of Woman the girls night event was a brilliant success. The venue for the event was Crann Terrace Kugaoka, a sharehouse complete with a studio and reading room in the basement. It’s a soothing place surrounded by lush greenery, something quite hard to find in Tokyo. There is space within the house to cultivate one’s hobbies so that even the busiest of working adults without a lot of time on their hands can reduce their commute to work and spend that time instead on what they actually want to do. Sharehouse Girls Night, a reimagined girls-only gathering. Will it be a success? Let’s get on with the report and find out! |
「Crann Terrace Kugaoka」House Details Page
At first we were the only ones in the spacious party venue, but participants began to arrive one by one and before I knew it the event had transformed into a brilliant affair. This was a girls-only event, but there were also a few males in attendance on the day, including Tokyo Sharehouse staff, no doubt uncomfortable and quite lost in the sea of females all around them...
To kick things off we were all given a tour of the house. Many people seemed to be impressed with the studio and theatre room in the basement, as was I when I first saw the house myself.
There might have been a few budding chefs in the crowd because everyone was gushing over the spacious kitchen. While everyone was going crazy I thought to myself that I would probably start cooking, too, if I lived in a house with a kitchen like this that just makes you want to cook something.
Somewhere in all of the commotion staff were working diligently on the party preparations. I wonder what she is making?
Cookies are placed on the table with the mixture that was being made in the previous picture. You might have already picked up on this, but she was making icing for decorating the cookies. The party guests will all try their hand at decorating cookies like the ones you often see in stores during Christmas time.
With that in mind, it’s a little bit boring with white as the only color, so red, yellow and pink icing is also made with food coloring. Now we’re all set.
No one had had a lot of experience with icing before, decorating their cookies with unsteady hands. Incidentally this is one of the very few male guests so I feel like I should barrack for him.
Everyone looking down in concentration. I wonder what kind of designs everyone is making? I can’t wait until they’re ready.
Guests set about finishing their designs with the announcement of “5 minutes to go!”
All done! It was interesting to see how everyone decorated their cookies differently. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the task so it was decided to hold a sudden decoration championship.
Voting was held by placing pieces of a chessboard that was in the house in front of their favorite decorated cookies. You could vote for yourself, of course, but I wonder where everyone put their chess pieces?
The winner was a resident of the house, with the most chess pieces.
Here is the number one work of art. The girls really liked the detailed design of the bow and the tree. You almost want to put them in a transparent bag and use them as decorations themselves, don’t you? Congratulations on 1st place in the Icing Design Championships!
The surprising thing was that two male guests tied for 2nd place. Using not just icing but peanuts and other sweets already on the table they created an original design copied by no one else. Here a a photo of the two guys.
Girls talk ensued while everyone ate the cookies they made. The house was alive with excitement as they chatted about various issues, including things they are working on, worries and troubles, and future prospects. Girls and guys even mingled together, chatting and giving advice.
With everyone caught up in having fun, the event was over before we could blink. Time flies when you’re having fun. Here’s a photo of all the guests to commemorate the occasion.
At first everyone was a little cautious of each other, but as the night went by with everyone having fun talking and sharing hobbies and interests I realised that you really can get on well and get to know anyone within the space of 3 hours. I suppose this is how it works when moving into a sharehouse too, gradually getting closer to each other as you spend more time together.
I mentioned that residents of the house won 1st and 2nd place in the icing competition, and I thought to myself that perhaps it was because they are living in a sharehouse, meeting new people and really refining their senses that they were able to come up with such original designs.
I would like to say thank you to the management team, the house tenants and also Girls+ and Power of Women for organising the event. I am a firm believer that fun and interesting times come out of living in a sharehouse, so look forward to the next event!
/Author: Kitano
