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Tokyo is the place to go if you want a taste of Japan’s newest cafes, and early this April, the city became the home to one very special locale.
The new cafe, called Social Cafe Sign With Me, isn’t just a place that has become a popular spot for locals since its opening. It’s also a cafe run entirely by the deaf and hearing impaired. Located in Bunkyo Kumin Center in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, it is operated by Arigato no Tane (The Seed of Thank You), an association that works to support deaf people on all levels.
Source: YouTube
Other than the fact that customers order by pointing, writing, nodding, and using other gestures, Social Cafe Sign With Me is just another cafe that serves a variety of drinks and food, including pasta, curry, and soup.
Masahiro Yanagi, a representative of Arigato no Tane, told Yomiuri Shimbun,
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube
The staff communicate by sign language, giving the cafe a quiet, peaceful atmosphere that can often be a refreshing breath of fresh air from other, more noisy cafes. They even hold events there, at which people can get together and partake in activities and discussions in sign language. In this way, the cafe doesn’t only allow greater opportunities for those who are deaf or hearing impaired, they have also created a community in which people with similar experiences and hardships to get together and share thoughts, opinions, and information.
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube
If you’ve already decided to schedule in a lunch date at this new cafe, the video below (which unfortunately has no audio) will show you a little bit of what it’s like to enjoy an afternoon at the Social Cafe Sign With Me. Maybe we’ll see you there!
Social Cafe Sign With Me
Hours: Monday~Saturday: 11AM~8PM/Sundays and national holidays: 11AM~7PM
Location: 5-23-11 Hongō, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo
Website (Japanese)