The oven is pre-heating, the flour mix is being stirred, the cupcake holders are laid out and a team of diminutive chefs, in white hats and flowered smocks, are running amok.
Except this is no ordinary baking session: for the cake mix is made of white clay, the oven is a handmade cardboard creation and the icing is a messy melange of glitter and foam.
Not to forget the chefs — or more precisely, the excited gang of young toddlers who are refining their creative skills in an art workshop at Kspace, an international preschool and children's play space in Tokyo's Shirokanedai neighborhood.