Construction starts!

We have just received good news from Japan that we were waiting for a LONG TIME! Building permit for the Japan Ibasho cafe was finally approved! Thanks to all our talented team members who have been generously supporting this initiative. We still have a lot to figure out before the opening, but I am certain that we can make this project truly a community project for the local people in a disaster area. This is one big milestone to reach that we should simply cerebrate! We will keep working hard to reach the next milestone… Journey continues.

I lost everything by the Tsunami, but we still have each other

“We should create the place where our grandmothers will not feel being served all the time, otherwise they will not come back to the gatherings. Then, they will stay inside the temporary house without socializing with others…” “We should build the cafe where our elders are the ones to serve tea, rather than being served. They like to do be useful to others ” The Tsunami victims who live in the temporary housing communities, repeatedly, made these comments. Although the contexts are different, it reminded me of the elders in long term care facilities in other parts of the world. I have been pondering about “what does it mean by […]

Driving through disaster area in 11 months

We arrived in Ofunato, and drove through Tsunami affected areas (as you can see in the video clip). As you can see from the video, the devastation caused by the Tsunami was so severe and wide spread, and I could not comprehend what I was looking at from the car window. All the open space in the video was high-density area with multi-story buildings, and 70,000 mature/large pine trees were there at the beach side before the Tsunami. All the pine trees exept for one were vanished instantly… Although the magnitude of this Tsunami was so devastating and many lives were lost, local residents were amazingly resillient and inspiring. They […]

Ibasho cafe at Tsunami disaster area in Japan

I am going to Tsunami disaster area from today, and work on a project: creating an “Ibasho cafe,” partnering with OperationUSA. We will visit disaster area and meet with people who live in temporary housing community, and work together to create an “ibasho”. This cafe is NOT going to be a “senior center” where elders have scheduled visits to socialize with others and receive care, but the place where elders are involved in design, construction, and operation by providing their wisdom, experience, and compassion to the community. We envision this cafe to be a social hub where people of all ages will come and spend their time as they wish. […]