Using the Studio and Rental Space

If all you need is a backdrop, other places exist. What makes this residence different is that a butler supports the work. Reception at the entrance, taking coats and bags, opening and closing doors, explaining the furnishings, guiding participants, adjusting small props during a shoot. The house is never lent unattended: that protects the furnishings, and it lets each scene be prepared without delay.

—You carry the gear; the butler moves the furnishings

When the scene changes, cameras and papers are carried by you; the butler keeps the passage clear and handles the furnishings. If you want the silver, the candlesticks or the chairs moved, the butler first asks for the composition and then moves them. The photographer, the hair and make-up artist, and whoever runs video or sound are for you to bring. The butler does a butler's work and not the work of the shoot; that line protects the quality of both.

The residence has eleven scenes. The dining room, which frames a person cleanly; the study, built around a leather-topped desk; the fireplace lounge, whose deep-coloured sofas receive an expression. For portraits and creative work you can move from one backdrop to another. For meetings, the study and the dining room can be used in turn, separating the hour of gathering round papers from the hour of a presentation on the 120-inch screen. As a meeting room, the house takes up to six.

—Also a dressing room, also a location

As a green room for performers at an event, there is a mirror and a costume rail, and, inside the house, a private shower room. For film, television and music video, the opening of the double doors, a conversation in the study and the night view of the fireplace lounge can all be joined within one house. It also suits recorded conversations and streaming. On hand are lighting, power, Wi-Fi, a motorised 120-inch screen and sound equipment. A full morning-coat outfit can be hired.

Some choose this house for a discussion with a guest who matters. The reason is the butler who meets visitors at the door, takes coats and bags, arranges where papers and drinks are placed, and serves tea. The butler takes no part in the content of the meeting, but by arranging the time before it begins and after it ends, the butler changes the quality of the meeting itself.

—A car to and from five points

There is also a transfer in the residence's car, driven by a butler, between the house and five places only (Tokyo Teleport Station; Tokyo Intl. Cruise Terminal Station; DiverCity Tokyo Plaza; Aqua City Odaiba; Decks Tokyo Beach), carrying six at most. The transfer comes with the plan booked; since there are days when the car is not available, this is confirmed at booking.

First tell us which it is, shooting, meeting, green room, location, recording; add the date and number of people. Even without a plan, the butler narrows the options from the purpose. A viewing, if wanted, looks at the light, where the equipment will go, the route for bringing it in and where costumes can be prepared. Confirmation covers which scenes, how long, how many people up to six, whether anyone will wear butler attire and whether a transfer is needed.

—From the greeting to the farewell

On the day the butler bows you in, arranges coats and bags, and shows equipment and other items to a safe place. During a shoot the butler watches the scene changes; in a meeting, reception and service; on a location, the furnishings and the loading. Food and drink of your own are welcome, though the house serves none. Going outside in hired attire requires the butler's company and permission. On a rainy day, the eleven scenes indoors are unaffected.

I value this door because it lets people see a butler at work in a working setting. Film crews and meeting participants alike see how a butler receives, waits and sees off, and that is one more way of coming to know butler culture. Times and fees by plan, and the list of scenes that can be photographed, are on the studio page of the Queen's Butler site.

—The other three doors

Outside the hours of a shoot there are other doors: the butler salon, the apprentice experience plus the shop. The same house, the same butlers. Put the purpose, the number of people and possible dates into the official site's form, and a butler will propose available scenes to suit.

The commonest enquiry is about how far we go. A butler takes on reception, coats and bags, the doors, moving the furnishings, guiding the party, serving drinks, and the routes for bringing equipment in and out. Photographer, hair and make-up, and anyone handling lights or sound are for you to bring.

—The furnishings are moved by the butler

The furnishings are always moved by the butler. Silver, candelabra and chairs each stand where they do for a reason, and only he remembers where they return to. Tell him the composition you want and he will set it so; when the shoot is done he puts everything back.

—Going out in the attire requires an escort

Going outside in the house attire is permitted only with a butler accompanying. The dress belongs to the context of the house; out on the street it means something else. Whether someone can accompany you depends on the day, so please raise it when booking.

Those who choose this house for an important meeting are not choosing it for the decoration alone. The few minutes in which a visitor is met at the door, gives up a coat and is shown to a seat set the tone of everything said that day.

—The business is not listened to

The butler does not listen to the business. He brings the tea, withdraws, and does not return until called. He does not touch the papers or the agenda. The confidence kept in this house covers what is on the table as much as what is private to a guest.

—The minutes after it ends

The time afterwards matters as much as the time before. Bags gathered, coats returned, and the minutes until the car arrives not filled with standing conversation. Carried quietly through to the bow at the door, the day settles into a composed memory.