Tokyo Coffee Kojima ~ By adults having genuine fun, children gain a sense of security and motivation

Introducing Tokyo Coffee No. 80’s activities in Kojima, Kurashiki City

Along with conducting the interview, I joined an activity that was being held.

The activity that day was “Bonfire de Tokyo Coffee,” being held for the third time after receiving rave reviews from participants.

It was before the activity began, but Seita smiled and said, “There’s not much to prepare.”

We talked about what inspired her to get involved.

How she discovered the activity

How did you first hear about Tokyo Coffee?

Seita (surname only)

It started with a talk event by Takashi Yoshida (hereafter, Dada) held in Kasaoka City in July 2022.

However, the talk wasn’t about Tokyo Coffee.

After I signed up, I received a notice saying, “We’re starting an activity called Tokyo Coffee, so we’ll set aside some time after the talk for anyone who’s interested.”

I thought I wouldn’t know unless I listened, so I went to hear the explanation, and I thought, “I want to do this!”

At the time, it had been about two years since my second son stopped going to school.

I didn’t think there was anything wrong with him being at home, but I’d always wanted to create a place outside the home where he could spend time and connect with other people.

What made you decide to start Tokyo Coffee?

Seita

The activity offers a lot of freedom.

I wanted to do something, but if you asked whether I wanted to run something like a free school, I didn’t particularly want to teach lessons in a structured way.

It wasn’t that I wanted to create a school for children who couldn’t attend school.

I couldn’t explain what it was that I wanted to do.

It wasn’t about making them do something or teaching them; I just wanted to be one of the options available when they freely choose their path in life.

Talking with an adult like me might help them realize something.

And I thought it would be good if there were lots of places with adults other than their parents, and children could choose where to go.

Tokyo Coffee activities can be anything adults enjoy. Participants can come and leave whenever they like, and organizers can hold activities weekly or once a month.

If there had been things we had to do or rules to follow, I might not have been able to do it.

What comes after adults have fun

Seita

I also really related to what Dada, the founder, said: “The number of children not attending school is growing, and children are crying out for help. Isn’t it because adults haven’t updated their thinking?”

When I used to work as a nursery school teacher, I sometimes felt that the childcare wasn’t centered on the children.

When my child started elementary school, I was shocked to find that not a single thing had changed in the 20 years since I’d felt that unease at the nursery school.

After that, I also served as the school PTA president and was quite involved with the school.

It’s not that the school is at fault; I imagine the current system sometimes leaves no other choice. But there were times when I felt my concerns weren’t getting through, and I experienced adults having trouble communicating with one another.

Even though neither the teachers nor the school are to blame, everyone ends up feeling down.

Dada uses the phrase “risking your life for fun” and emphasizes the importance of adults having fun, but adults at school end up feeling down.

From those experiences, I thought that if school can’t be a fun place right now, it would be far more enjoyable and positive to take the initiative and create something myself than to ask someone else to change things.

Rather than trying to change other people.

You’ve had many thoughts and experiences both as a nursery school teacher and as a parent or guardian.
In that context, Tokyo Coffee’s activity of “adults having fun” certainly sounds appealing.

Seita

Yes, it’s fun and free, and I thought, “This could make a difference.”

I also agreed with the idea of creating a movement by holding activities nationwide at the same time and influencing education.

Wanting to create something new isn’t wrong, but when I was told that we needed to bring each person’s hopes together into a larger movement, I thought, “Oh, I see.”

However, I’m not good at doing things with other people, so I wondered whether joining the activity was the right thing for me.

But with Tokyo Coffee, as long as we share the same core values, we’re free to decide what activities to do. I feel that this shows a tremendous amount of trust, and when adults try to have fun, the focus turns toward ourselves.

What do you mean by “the focus turns toward ourselves”?

Seita

Parents and guardians inevitably tend to focus their attention on their children.

When a child has difficulty going to school, you worry about what would be best for them, including whether they should go.

At Tokyo Coffee, the parents and guardians are in similar situations, so many want someone to listen to them.

Everyone wants to get things off their chest and gets absorbed in talking, so their attention naturally shifts away from the children, and then the children start playing freely.

Personally, I think it would be good if we could trust that children grow up on their own.

That’s difficult, and it’s hard to let go of our own standards or those of our families.

Through the activities, by encountering and talking about the values of different families, I feel that parents themselves are regaining their perspective.

They loosen, break down, or let go of the assumptions they unconsciously carry about what it means to be a parent or guardian.

In this way, while parents and guardians are absorbed in their own conversations, the children are there playing freely.

When parents see that, they’re won over. They’re left thinking, “I give up,” so to speak.

Rather than parents going on and on, I think the children are capable of sensing things for themselves, and there’s nothing more I can do for them.

It feels presumptuous to think I can do something for them, and yet I find myself butting in anyway.

That’s why I think coming to a place like this, where parents and guardians can update their thinking and refresh themselves, creates a positive cycle at home too. I hope this can be that kind of place.

What the activity brings about: having fun and finding healing

Is there anything from the activities that has particularly stayed with you?

Seita

I don’t know if it’s something that stands out, but when an activity ends, children say, “That was fun! I’ll come again!” and that makes me happy.

I was also happy to hear a parent or guardian who took part say, “I’ve never been able to talk this much before,” because it made me feel that this place had become somewhere people could open their hearts.

What would you say are the distinctive features of Tokyo Coffee Kojima?

Seita

Kojima is blessed with a wonderful environment, with both the sea and the mountains.

It’s an everyday part of life for those who live here, but visitors from outside the prefecture seem to find it relaxing.

We’ve held activities at Washu Kiln several times, cooking rice in a clay pot and having bonfires, but I’m actually not an outdoorsy person.

All of those things were things I’d never done before.

At its core, this is about me enjoying things I’ve never done before.

I’ve tried things I’d never done before and done what I found enjoyable, so it might be a little difficult to put into words.

It’s based on what I like (laughs).

Could you tell us about your plans and hopes for future activities?

Seita

During the hot season, I think it might be nice to rent an indoor space and have a tea gathering.

We’ll decide things flexibly depending on how things are at the time.

I hope it can be “a place you want to go, where you feel better when you go, and where you can have fun.”

So anything goes. Everyone finds different things fun.

I don’t think there’s any need to offer one specific thing.

You can come here just to pull weeds, add firewood to the fire, or chase bugs.

You can do whatever you like, but I hope you’ll feel, “It’s nice just being in the same space together”.

Also, Tokyo Coffee aims to establish 500 locations nationwide, but personally, I think it would be nice to have one next to a school, like an after-school program.

From the Writer

What stayed with me when I took part was the atmosphere, as if I were reuniting with old friends.

Before I knew it, each participant had found a place for themselves, and there was a curious sense of comfort in the fact that no two people were doing the same thing.

Some people talked with other adults, some listened nearby, some spent time with the children, some looked at the surrounding nature, and some went for a walk…

I truly experienced what Seita described as the comfort of being in the same space even when you aren’t doing the same thing.

What made an even deeper impression was the children’s expressions and posture.

Their serious faces and eager posture as they threw leaves and branches onto the fire, determined to get it going.

They would think of something, run off somewhere on their own, then come back having found something new.

Watching the children embody “being completely absorbed” made me smile, while also loosening something deep inside me.

Tokyo Coffee is not an activity that encourages children not to go to school.

Rather than approaching children directly, the adults who take part in the activities loosen and untangle minds that have become rigid without them realizing it. I felt that this may be an activity that helps lay the foundation for children’s growth and learning.

As of June 2023, five activity hubs are operating in Okayama Prefecture, and you can search for a nearby hub on the official TOKYO COFFEE website.

“Please, by all means, don’t feel nervous. This isn’t that kind of place.”

Those were the words of Seita-san.

Tokyo Coffee is an activity for adults to enjoy, and I look forward to seeing it spread across the country.

Tokyo Coffee No. 80: Information on Kojima, Kurashiki City

Name	Tokyo Coffee No. 80: Kojima, Kurashiki City
Held	Approximately once a month Held irregularly Please check Instagram for activity announcements
Location	Kojima, Kurashiki City
Participation fee (tax included)	Adults: 1,000 yen Children: 500 yen *May vary depending on the activity.
Website	Instagram: tokyo_coffee_no.80

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