It is not about luxury. It is about the meaning of life…

I was invited to “Aging 2.0 Washington DC” to describe about our effort in relation to the Intergenerational activities. Below is my brief talk. I hope our society will realize that “what makes people happy is not about the luxury but the meaningful life and relationships…” Before sharing what we do and why we do our work, I would like to share a quote that I found in an elementary school in Bhutan. “The time to be happy is now, the place to be happy is here, the way to be happy is to make other people happy.” Everybody wants to be useful to others, regardless of their age. And […]

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 […]

Ibasho’s documentary film: Elders leading resilience

Please watch the documentary film that captured the ways in which elders led inclusive community resiliency. This film was created with the generous support from the GFDRR (The World Bank). This documentary shows how community elders were empowered to help the community recover after the great earthquake in Ofunato, Japan in 2011. It assesses the experience of the Ibasho approach on post-disaster recovery and strengthening social capital. This film aims to capture the strength, wisdom, and humanity of elders, which will challenge our current social perception about aging and the role of elders. Although this film focused on the recovery from the natural disasters, we should have this type of […]

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 […]

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” ~ Henry Ford Such a powerful quote when we try to to bring about “innovative approach” to how we care for elders in our society. Do we want to keep building “better institutions” or to create an “ibasho” where elders are valued as a asset of their communities? In ibasho projects, elders are not considered as someone who are “cared for” by younger people, but “care for others” to strengthen their community. Elders in the “Ibasho house” in Japan celebrated the 1st anniversary event o July 13th 2014. During the first year of operation, they have […]

How can we define “success”?

When we decide to create a “community driven” project, it naturally leads us to face complex issues. During the process, we empowered elders to voice their opinions and come up with concensus among other members of the community. Which means that we just have to trust elders to lead and community members to collaborate together to make decisions. As we all know, there is no such a thing as “perfect community.” Some may not get along with others, people from outside of the community move in, some are wealther than others, and etc… Operating a small place like a “Ibasho cafe” in a real community, there are still a lot […]

Research first and social well-being next?

I was just told by a research that “To evaluate the effectiveness of ibasho cafe, you have to deliver a perfect ibasho cafe within 5 months.” I was trained as a researcher, spent many years of learning and conducting researches. Now, I choose to be a practitioner to apply my idea of ibsho. I struggle to understand the researchers who want to impose their agenda and timeline on the projects that have a critical impact on the life of elders. When we allow evaluations to determine how and when the projects to be delivered, we will completely miss out the true beautify of community initiative project. This researcher will never […]

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 […]

Am I making elders work in the Ibasho cafe????

A comment that surprised me today… “I cannot believe that you are making elders work at the Ibasho cafe in the disaster area in Japan! Your project is not kind to elders.” I was simply shocked to hear the comment. I seriously believed that “Ibasho cafe is giving opportunities for local elders to be useful to others. They can share their valuable wisdom and experience regardless of their physical and cognitive capacities.” Almost all the elders whom I talked to at the disaster area said that “I am thankful for all the support that we have received from all over the world. However, it is getting a bit too much for […]

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 […]