An Internet cafe set up by Japanese soccer player Hidetoshi Nakata will open in Tokyo from April 19 to July 14 in concert with the 2002 World Cup soccer finals, which are being cohosted by Japan and South Korea.

The venue, nakata.net cafe, will open at the Tokyo International Forum in the Marunouchi area. Nakata is participating in designing the interior so it will support the World Cup, which is expected to draw about 380,000 people from around the world.

Nakata, who plays in Italy's Serie A league and is also expected to play on the Japan team during the World Cup, says on his official Web site that he hopes the Internet cafe will help the event, which runs from May 31 to June 30, become successful.

The cafe will offer high-speed access to the Internet and enable customers to easily obtain World Cup information. It will also serve food and drinks, including some of Nakata's Italian favorites.

Employees will be able to speak foreign languages in addition to Japanese, and will provide details about the cities in which the soccer matches are taking place, as well as information on transportation to and from the stadiums.

Oriental Co., the venture firm in charge of food service at the cafe, will run a course on the cafe business April 20, providing training at Nakata's cafe.

The company will teach skills needed to start a cafe, which is a booming business in Japan, for three to four months.

Among other things, the instruction includes lectures on business plans, fundraising, building a shop, interior decoration and management.