By Rev. Noriaki Fujimori
On a recent trip to Japan, I visited “Chibaru Shokudō,” an Okinawan restaurant in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, that’s known as “wrong-order restaurant.” Elderly people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease work there.
I entered the restaurant and sat down at the counter. After looking at the menu, I decided on Okinawan soba noodles. I saw an elderly waitress appearing to ask customers to write down their orders for her. I wrote “Chibaru soba” on my order form. “Chibara” is an Okinawan word meaning “encourage others to do their best.”
Before long, she brought me a beer—by mistake! With a smile, I cheerfully said, “I didn’t order this.” A TV crew happened to be in the restaurant. A cameraman saw what happened, came over and said : “You have a nice smile. Did you know about this kind of restaurant?”
Yes, I replied, adding, “I think it’s important to live together like this from now on. I’m learning a lot today.”
Mr. Ichikawa, the restaurant’s owner, originally worked as a caregiver at a nursing home for the elderly. At the restaurant, he employs Alzheimer’s patients in hopes they’ll be able to live with everyone in the community, not just in nursing homes. Each day, he pays their wages as soon as they finish work, so they won’t forget.
In these times, it’s common for elderly people, especially with Alzheimer’s disease, to enter a care facility, where they often live out the rest of their lives.
At the restaurant, Mr. Ichikawa offers a different path. He challenges us to live together in one community, even if you have Alzheimer’s. With this restaurant, he’s working towards a solution.
This way of thinking directly confronts the challenges of our modern world. For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) already has taken away jobs normally done by humans. AI’s future promise is to replace people, do our jobs better and faster, and not make mistakes. After all, people make mistakes.
However, this restaurant makes us smile when people make mistakes. Instead of living in an AI world of “no mistakes,” this restaurant seems to be saying, “It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay not to be perfect. We can be wrong, but that’s okay. That’s what makes us human.”
I was touched by “Wrong Order Restaurant,” whose message tells us, “Let’s all be human.”
Another restaurant I visited was “Ristorante Terasaki” located in a forest in Yamanashi Prefecture, which I heard about from a friend. The restaurant’s owner, Mr. Terasaki, previously ran a restaurant in Shibuya, which is one of Tokyo’s most crowded areas. He sold that restaurant and his house, then moved to the forest.
At the restaurant, even the water I was served was special. It’s been a long time since I tasted such delicious water, which came from a spring near a forest shrine. Mr. Terasaki served us a cup of tea heated in an iron kettle with spring water and leaves, which he collected in the forest.
Each day, Mr. Terasaki enjoys seeing how the forest is forever changing. Last fall, he harvested a wide variety of mushrooms. An old man standing nearby taught him about mushrooms as he picked them, which he planned to serve to his guests. While I was there, it was snowing. Spring time was just around the corner. He was excited because wild vegetables would be soon sprouting.
I asked him, “Are you trying to become Jōmon? [ancient Japanese people who survived by hunting].” He quickly replied, “Yes! I’m going to live out my life this way.”
I learned Mr. Terasaki had a “Dharma name” given by Honganji. We began to talk about Buddhism.
I asked if he knew the four types of foods found in Pure Land Buddhism. He didn’t, so I explained: “The first kind is actual food we need to survive, just like what you serve, right?” He nodded in agreement while jotting down notes.
“The other three foods are more mental. I think you’ve already eaten those other kinds.”
“Really?”
“You’re already sharing all three types with your guests. One is to eat so we see our relationship with nature. Especially during these times when people only think of themselves, it’s important to share with your guests the relationship we have with nature.”
“Oh, I see.”
“The second kind is hope—the hope of living with nature in these times of global environmental crisis.”
The third and final type of food is “spiritual awakening,” according to a Buddhist sutra
I explained: “Every morning you walk in the forest, where you encounter ever-changing nature, which naturally gives you greater awareness about life.”
He was delighted.
We talked for hours about these kinds of things, while enjoying the food he served.
Common sense may tell us the city is bright and the forest is dark. By contrast, I believe Mr. Terasaki saw light in the forest and darkness in the city. I think by living in the forest and opening this restaurant, he’s showing us that brightness.
Sharing these wonders of living and enjoying forest life are important to confronting today’s serious environmental challenges.
On this trip, I saw new ways how life can be wonderful.
-Rev. Fujimori is minister at Palolo Higashi Hongwanji Temple in Honolulu, Hawaii