A jazz-themed café and bar in one of Tokyo’s swankiest districts might seem about as far from a soup kitchen as you can get.
A jazz-themed café and bar in one of Tokyo’s swankiest districts might seem about as far from a soup kitchen as you can get.
But at the Caffe de Solito in the capital’s Ginza district, refugees affected by either the tsunami or the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant can get a plate of curry and a cup of coffee on the house.
Proving that there is such thing as a free lunch is café manager Glen Onodera, who has been raising money and gathering supplies for people in the affected region since the quake in March last year.
“I welcome anyone, and I want people to know the offer is open and there,” he says.
In addition to making countless trips to Fukushima in a van loaded with food, clothes and vitamins, Onodera has also spearheaded a drive to raise money for the Red Cross from Tokyo. He has held jazz concerts at the café, which by night transforms into Bar Taru, swapping the coffee for whiskey.
Fukushima refugees who stop by can tuck into a homemade lunch set complete with salad, soup and cappuccino while listening to sultry jazz, admiring the vintage vinyl adorning the walls, and watching old movies projected onto the wall.
“I’ve been here about three times and it’s always great,” says Sachie Tanihira, a mother of 5-year-old twins, who evacuated from her home in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture. She met Onodera while she was staying at the Ajinomoto stadium in Saitama, which he visited to deliver supplies.
Tanihira now lives in municipal housing provided free of charge in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, but she’s finding it hard to make ends meet.
“Prices in Tokyo are so much higher than in Fukushima, especially food,” she says. “Parking spaces were free in Fukushima; they’re so expensive here.”
Tanihira lost her job as a dental assistant because the dentist's where she worked was in the evacuation zone. Her unemployment insurance checks are due to end in March, and while it is difficult to find a job in Tokyo, it is even harder back home in Fukushima. Most available jobs involve clearing rubble or working in the nuclear power plant itself, while positions more suitable for women have been snapped up by other evacuees.
She says she is glad for the free meal.
“Everyone’s been so kind here, and it’s a fun city. But it’s unnerving not being able to see very far into the future, and when we’ll be able to go home,” she says.