Ibasho House in Japan: 7th Anniversary on the June 13, 2020

It has already been 7 years since we opened the door of the Ibasho House with our elders and dedicated supporters. Our elders taught us so much and touched so many people’s lives over this 7 years. This project was started out of natural disaster, and our elders have proven that communities could bounce back better after crises. We also learned that elders are so resilient and they had so much to contribute in the process of the recovery from extremely difficult time. At this challenging time of COVID19, I hope the strength of elders in this slideshow will give us hope and inspiration for our better future. Congratulations to […]

Ibasho House in Ofunato Japan celebrated 6 year anniversary

The Ibasho model was pioneered in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. In its first six years of operation, Ibasho House in Japan served more than 40,000 people and hosted over 1,250 events in which elders shared their knowledge with younger generations by cooking traditional foods, organizing traditional festivals, teaching young people how to use old equipment without electricity, and more. Elders operated the Ibasho house in the self-sustainable manner, raising funds through organic garden, farmer’s market, ramen noodle shop, cafe, and writing grants for their operation and multi-generational programs. By creating multigenerational programs and a physical space to allow community members of all ages to connect […]

Ibasho in Japan celebrated 2-year anniversary

In 2011, over 18,000 people were killed and more than 65,000 people were displaced when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan. Entire communities were devastated, but among the survivors, both older and young spoke of elders who saved younger people’s lives by guiding them to higher ground and teaching them how to survive with extremely limited resources. In turn, older people expressed a great deal of gratitude for the aid they received. Many people of all ages wanted to give back and be useful to others but did not know how. The Ibasho cafe project was initiated in February 2012, and many volunteer experts from around the world […]

Friendship between Japanese and Filipino elders

Elders from Ibasho project in Japan are visiting community members in the prospective Ibasho cafe site in Ormoc, Philippines. We had such an inspiring first day of elders exchanging their ideas and skills to each other. One of the Japanese elders who is a retired carpenter, realized a few useful techniques that could make local homes stronger against to typhoon. Then, the elders picked up the carpentry tools and helped a 84 year old man who were building his home. After their exchange of skills and knowledge in two countries. The Japanese elders said “We have learned so much from the people in Philippines. They may have limited resources, but […]

Ibasho House Article – Silver News

#1 Silver News, a Japanese publication, published a series of five articles about Ibasho House by Dr. Yasuhiro Tanaka, an architect who has been researching the Ibasho cafe in Ofunato. This is the first of his four articles. シルバー新報に、居場所ハウスの記事が掲載されました。５回連載の１回目の記事を以下に紹介しました。次回からの記事も掲載しますので、お楽しみに！現地で頑張って下さっている田中さんの視点、興味深いです。 #2 Learning from each other: Elders and young generations can teach and learn from one another… #3 This is an article about forming meaningful relationships through incidental encounters. Ibasho Cafe strengthens community resiliency by engaging elders in the process of creating a welcoming, informal meeting place where they can act as catalysts, connecting community members of all ages. 「居合わせること」がすべての始まり：場が持つ無限大の可能性 Ibashoが目指す「ゆるやかに、自然に人がつながる場所」、公民館や集会所との違いを通し、上手く表現していただいている文章だと思います。これも、地域の皆さんの理解と努力のおかげです。 「弱くとも広がりのある関係が築かれている地域が、災害時や災害からの立ち直りに強い地域と言えるのではないだろうか」、心に響く表現です。 #4 This article is on reinventing our own community: How elders […]

3rd Anniversary of Japan Earthquake/Tsunami

It has been three years since the day I got up early in the morning and just could not complehend the devestating news broadcasted on the TV. In this three years, we have learn how resilient, wise, and resourceful the elders can be to bring back their community. Their selfless love and strength created such a wonderful place filled with purpose and joy. Thank you.

Who decide?

We had the Ibasho’s board retreat today. I am so grateful to have such wonderful board members and friends who gathered to discuss how we can achieve our goal of “creating socially integrated and sustainable communities that value their elders.” During the discussion, a question was posed “What does Ibasho do that others don’t do?” Some may think that “Isn’t Ibasho café the same as senior center?” I have sit down in a quiet place and thought about it for a while… Looking through my notes and all the pictures from our projects, I can clearly say that “We believe in elders’ wisdom and experience to reinvent our communities. We […]

Where is our hope?: 2 years after the Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster

“We need a hope, otherwise, we cannot make sense out of our loss. We were motivated to bring our normal life back, but it is getting so hard to keep motivating ourselves lately. We just need tangible changes that we can see to keep us motivated to bounce back.” A Japanese woman who donated her old farmhouse for the Ibasho cafe project quietly spoke to me one day. She lost 8 family members as well as her house at this incident, and living in a temporary housing ever since. She and her husband are rebuilding their house, but it has been delayed for a long time. I have also heard the […]

Ibasho sozo project- not for profit organization is formally approved

The first ibasho cafe in the disaster area in Japan is under construction now, and we have another exciting news. Elders in Massaki area in Ofunato city Japan formed a not for profit orgazation to operate this cafe as a community initiative. On February 28, this organization was formally approved by the city. Who said “older people cannot start social enterprise”? We belive that their wisdom and experience are critical part of the recovery process in the disaster area. We are confident that those elders will be great resources for younger generations in this community. We are opening the cafe on June 13th, 2013, so will be busy for the […]