For parents and guardians
The Accel Kitchen Handmade Club is a program in which junior-high, high-school, and university students (including KOSEN students) turn a scientific theme that draws them into "a piece you can hold in your hands," and—through dialogue with researchers and our makers—experience everything up to selling it for real at a festival (Science Agora, Design Festa, Hakubutsu Fes, and the like). From anywhere in Japan, each participant takes part individually (solo) with online support.
There is no participation fee or enrollment fee whatsoever. There is no financial burden on guardians.
We've designed the flow of money as follows.
You purchase parts, materials, booth fees, shipping, and the like, and when you submit the receipts at the end of the program, Accel Kitchen reimburses the actual costs.
In practice, there may be times when your family pays up front and is reimbursed later. If a purchase is expensive or paying up front is difficult, please let us know in advance and we'll work out the purchasing method together. The participant decides how to use the budget and prepares a profit-and-loss statement (this very act of planning, spending, and recording money is part of the learning). Anything beyond ¥30,000 is at your own expense, and any leftover amount is not paid out in cash.
Actual costs are recovered from sales first, and any surplus belongs to the participant.
At the festival, participants set their own prices, prepare change, and sell to real customers with real money. Experiencing the economic reality that "profit only remains once you've recovered your costs" is itself the aim of this program. After recovering actual costs such as materials and booth fees from sales, the participant can keep whatever surplus remains. For worked examples with specific cases, please see here (how the budget and sales work).
The core of the program is online support. The studio training where you learn making skills (3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics such as soldering) takes place at our partner maker studios — SHIP (Shinagawa Industry Support & Exchange Facility) / Rokugo BASE (Minami-Rokugo, Ota-ku, Tokyo) / Accel Kitchen RARIS (inside Tohoku University, Sendai), among others — where you begin only after taking a training session. On the assumption that almost everyone is a first-timer, we teach safe handling from the very start.
When in-person activities arise—such as visits to universities, research institutes, or studios, or exhibiting at festivals—Accel Kitchen arranges insurance so that, in the unlikely event of an accident or injury, no burden falls on your family. Before any in-person activity, we provide details in advance, and participation proceeds only after the guardian has reviewed them.
Our handmade makers and student mentors guide the creative work. Many of the mentors are university and graduate students who themselves threw themselves into inquiry and making during their own junior- and senior-high years.
- Mentors and participants never communicate one-on-one in a closed channel; all contact goes through a shared channel that the organizers are also part of. Our staff monitor it at all times.
- Online video calls are recorded and logged, and kept so they can be reviewed if needed.
- For sessions a participant misses or cannot attend, we make it possible for them to catch up through shared materials and chat exchanges.
Studio equipment and any loaned tools and supplies are the property of Accel Kitchen or our partner facilities. Participants manage and use them appropriately and hand them on to the next participant after use. In cases of damage or loss due to intent or gross negligence, we may need to discuss the matter separately.
Photos and videos taken during activities, presentation materials, finished works, and participants' names and affiliations may be used for program operation, activity reports, and public relations. We take great care to ensure no participant is disadvantaged, and if special consideration is needed regarding the publication of photos, names, and the like, we will accommodate it if you let us know in advance.
Any personal information we collect is used solely for the purpose of operating the program; we do not provide or sell it to third parties. For details, please see our Privacy Policy.
About rights to works and ideas
The copyright in works a participant creates during the program belongs to the participant. They are free to sell or present their work at any time.
On top of that, to protect each side's future creative opportunities, for one year after the program ends, Accel Kitchen and the participant agree not to commercialize each other's ideas or works without permission. If Accel Kitchen uses a participant's work or idea for commercialization or the like, we will credit the creator by name, and we decide how it is used (returning a portion of the sales / crediting the name only, etc.) in consultation with the participant each time. Choosing to opt out ("I'd rather you didn't use it") is also possible. You can review the detailed terms in the consent form you'll sign.
Applications from minors (junior-high, high-school, and KOSEN students, etc.) require a guardian's consent (adults, such as university students, may apply with their own consent). We ask for consent through the following steps.
- At the application stage, please confirm within your family using the "I have my guardian's consent" toggle on the application form.
- After you apply, we explain the activities, the flow of money, and safety again in an online interview.
- Before activities begin, we provide a consent form for signature and ask the guardian to sign it (the documents will be sent out in due course).
Q and A
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Q. Is participation really free?
We run this as a pilot program, and there is no participation fee or enrollment fee whatsoever. All your family needs to provide is roughly an internet connection and a computer.
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Q. Is the ¥30,000 handed to my child in cash?
No. We do not hand over cash. You purchase parts, materials, booth fees, shipping, and the like, and when you submit the receipts, Accel Kitchen reimburses the actual costs. The participant decides how to use it and prepares a profit-and-loss statement. Any leftover amount is not paid out in cash.
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Q. Will we need to pay up front?
In practice, there may be times when your family pays up front and is reimbursed later. If paying up front is difficult or a purchase is expensive, please let us know in advance and we'll work out the purchasing method together. We make sure no undue burden falls on your family.
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Q. Do festival sales count as my child's income? What about tax filing?
Actual costs are recovered from sales first, and any surplus belongs to the participant. Depending on the amount and circumstances, a tax filing (an income-tax return, dependent-status considerations, and the like) may be required. If the amount is likely to be large, please check with your family to be safe. If you're unsure, you're welcome to consult Accel Kitchen as well.
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Q. I'm worried about safety and injuries.
Studio equipment is used only after taking a training session. Items that require careful handling, such as resin, are handled by staff in principle so that students do not touch them. When in-person activities arise, Accel Kitchen arranges insurance so that no burden falls on your family, and we provide details of in-person activities in advance.
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Q. Can the mentors be trusted? Can I see the exchanges?
Mentors do not communicate one-on-one in closed channels. All contact goes through a shared channel that the organizers are also part of, and the organizers monitor it at all times. Video calls are recorded and logged, and kept so they can be reviewed if needed.
If anything is unclear, please feel free to contact us anytime before signing or applying.
We welcome both your child's application and inquiries from guardians.
Accel Kitchen LLC (Handmade Club lead: Maiko Sudo)
info@accel-kitchen.com / TEL 03-4500-0403