In November, CWS Japan hosted several events, including a disaster risk reduction walk to inform Japanese language school students about local disaster preparedness resources and storytelling sessions. Through events like these, the cafe fosters deeper connections, promotes cross-cultural understanding and creates a welcoming space where the community can engage and learn from one another.
CWS Japan recently opened a café—the Community Cafe @ Okubo—with ecumenical partners to aid the relationship building between refugee and asylum seeker newcomers and local communities in Japan.
Disaster Risk Reduction Walk With Japanese Language Students
Last November, the Community Cafe held an Okubo Multicultural Coexistence Disaster Prevention Walk for students from a local Japanese language school to help individuals in the community familiarize themselves with local disaster preparedness resources in the case of future emergencies in the area.
This was the third time we have held a disaster risk reduction walk with the institute, and different students have participated each time. This time, it was held with international students from five countries: Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Nepal and Mongolia, along with three Japanese volunteers from the cafe.
First, at the Lutheran Church, the group introduced themselves, discussed self-help techniques and watched a video explaining evacuation shelters and sites. After that, they walked together around the town of Okubo, visiting and learning about local meeting places and temporary accommodation facilities for those unable to return home in the event of a disaster.
The participating students said that even though they go to school, they had never been to the nearby roads and parks before and didn’t know about them, and they also shared that they would like to participate in local volunteer activities in the future! It was a very enjoyable time.
Experiencing Japanese Culture Through Storytelling and Play
That month, the Community Cafe also hosted two events, including one run by Waseda University’s Takano seminar students and another in collaboration with the local reading group “Yonde no Kai.”
In the “Japanese culture experience of play” event, participants were able to experience traditional Japanese play culture, such as kendama, fukuwarai and origami, which are often played around the New Year, and it was a time to enjoy interacting with each other while playing together in a friendly atmosphere.
The storytime readings by the “Yonde no Kai” group included picture books, paper theaters, large picture books and more. When we think of picture book readings, we imagine something aimed at children, but there are also storytimes for adults, which was perfect for this café and its mission to create a place of connection and safety for community members.
Although it was a cold, winter-like day, people of a wide range of ages and backgrounds participated in the event, from young people such as local Japanese language school students and Japanese language learners, to older people, such as Shinjuku Day Care Center participants, making it a truly multicultural and multigenerational event. It was heartwarming to see all the participants enjoying traditional Japanese games and storytelling.
Community Cafe @ Okubo will continue to aim to create a place where people can meet to teach and be taught, help and be helped and participate in multicultural and multigenerational exchange events, all of which help to foster greater understanding and acceptance within the community.
Nozomi Igarashi is a Project Officer with CWS Japan. To learn more about the work of CWS Japan, visit their website (in Japanese) or click here.