Interview with Representative Kiyoko Ando
I spoke with Kiyoko Ando, the representative of the certified NPO Step, which operates a rabbit café.
Aiming for a place where you can go immediately when you are troubled
Can you tell us about the concept of the rabbit café?
Ando (no honorifics)
It is a café-style consultation space for parents and families of children with disabilities and those with developmental concerns.
We are open twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 AM to 3 PM, and once a month on a Sunday or holiday.
Before starting the rabbit café, we created consultation spaces about once to three times a month, but if the days are few, it can be difficult to consult if you have a scheduling conflict on that day.
Also, even if you go to that space, there may be days when you leave without being able to voice your concerns. However, if there is a gap until the next consultation, you might forget what you wanted to discuss initially as new worries arise.
Fundamental worries that are not resolved can lead to negative impacts later, like pus accumulating in a wound.
Therefore, I wanted to create a place where parents can go immediately when they are troubled, which is why I started the rabbit café.
There are various formats for consultation spaces, but do you have a reason for sticking to a café format?
Ando
When someone comes to consult in the morning and the conversation gets lively, they might think, "I want to talk more!" but when lunchtime comes and they get hungry, they leave the space. I thought that time was wasted. So, I considered that if they could eat here, the conversation could continue.
We staff also had times when we worked while having lunch when we started Step. At that time, I would make everyone's bento and bring it. It created a very relaxed atmosphere.
In fact, I feel that providing meals at the café improves the atmosphere of the space.
While eating a daily lunch, you might make eye contact with a stranger and say, "This is delicious," leading to conversations among parents... It makes me realize that meals play a role in connecting people.
The café menu is also carefully prepared for the parents.
This is because parents' lunches often consist of leftovers from dinner or bento.
Since parents usually focus on their children, I want to provide the best hospitality on the days they come to the rabbit café.
Always being a friend to the "guardians"
What are the benefits of having parents with children with the same disabilities provide consultation support instead of experts?
Ando
When consulting with educational or welfare experts, it can be intimidating.
Moreover, many of those experts tend to speak from the perspective of children with disabilities or developmental concerns, but we speak from the perspective of the "guardians."
We can ask, "What do you want to do?" "What are you feeling anxious about?" and be a friend to the guardians, which is our strength.
Also, since our staff have had similar experiences, they often feel comfortable sharing their weaknesses openly.
I believe that the happiness of the guardians greatly influences the happiness and self-esteem of their children, so we engage as consultation partners rather than advisors, focusing on the guardians.
Do users often come with topics they want to discuss from the first visit?
Ando
More than 10 years have passed since we started the rabbit café, and we have held various events as Step, so many people know what kind of organization we are and come to visit. Therefore, many people share their concerns with the staff from the beginning.
After the second visit, they often come to enjoy casual conversations or spend time with other parents of children with disabilities, and if they have worries or anxieties, they share them as they arise.
Of course, there are also people who just listen to others without saying much. However, most people who go out of their way to visit the rabbit café likely have some purpose for coming.
Therefore, I try to engage with them as companions by asking, "How have you been lately?" This often leads to people opening up about their troubles, saying, "Actually, I've been worried about this..."
It's fine to consult, or just to have a lunch break for yourself, or to spend time with other parents of children with disabilities.
I hope everyone can spend their time here comfortably.
After more than 10 years of operation, do users continue to come regularly?
Ando
Most of the children who used the rabbit café when it first started were "children with disabilities," but as those children have grown, the users here have increasingly become "guardians of people with disabilities."
However, those individuals do not necessarily come every week.
There are people who have returned after a period when they could not come to the rabbit café, and others who did not need the rabbit café for a while but found themselves needing to consult again due to their child's advancement in education or employment. The ways of using it vary.
However, because the rabbit café continues to exist, I feel that it functions as a true place where people can think, "I will try going again" when they need it.
It makes me happy that we have aimed to create a "place you can go immediately when you are troubled."
A place where there are companions and friends
In providing consultation support, do staff ever feel overwhelmed?
Ando
I and the office manager, Ishikawa, are not the type to be easily dragged down, and we share the consultations we receive after business hours with other staff. Having a space to share allows us to express even our difficult feelings.
That's right. The staff at the rabbit café are very chatty.
That’s because we are also parents raising children with disabilities, so we share not only consultation topics but also our parenting experiences, caregiving, and even about our pets... We readily share these things.
Since we are friends and companions raising children with similar disabilities, I think that no one feels overwhelmed alone.
After 10 years, I want to deliver this place to those who need it
After running the rabbit café for over 10 years, do you face any challenges?
Ando
Last year, the number of users decreased.
Of course, if parents of children with disabilities or developmental concerns can have their own consultation spaces without us creating them, that is a good thing. It is a joy when support spaces fulfill their role.
However, the reality is that the usage rate among parents of preschool children has decreased. This means that while there are guardians who continue to come here, it is likely that our activities are still not well known to parents who have just been informed of their child's disabilities or developmental delays by medical institutions.
Therefore, I think we need to come up with new events and courses, and reconsider our consultation methods.
Currently, we are setting up a consultation support space on the first Wednesday of every month at the Hayashima Town Tourism Center during the "☆Hayashima's Wednesday Marche☆." There are people who find it physically easier to come to Hayashima Town than to the rabbit café, and some come to chat while checking out handmade items being sold at the same time, so I feel there is a demand.
In the future, we are considering systems that allow consultations regardless of location, such as online or by phone.
I want to lower the barriers for people to come to the consultation space and make it a place that more people in need can utilize.
Finally, please give a message to the readers.
Ando
I understand that going to an unfamiliar place can be anxiety-inducing. It’s okay to start by communicating a little through the official LINE.
We will warmly welcome those who come, so I hope you will muster the courage to visit.
Also, while this is a "café," food is not mandatory.
You can come just for consultation or for a short visit, so please feel free to come.
We sincerely look forward to welcoming everyone as companions.
Conclusion
I used to be a teacher in the kindergarten section of a special support school.
In the three-year-old class, we had a mother-child commuting system, and we set up a waiting room for parents of kindergarten students within the school.
The reason for this setup was that parents needed a place to gather and consult with each other.
In a space like the rabbit café, where teachers do not enter and parents spend time together, they would call each other by their first names, share hobbies, and of course, confide in each other about their concerns regarding developmental support.
Parents who were not energetic during drop-off times would return to the classroom lively after spending time in the waiting room, and I felt the importance of time spent among peers every day.
When children with disabilities or developmental concerns attend regular classes in kindergartens, nurseries, or elementary schools, it can be difficult to create a space for parents to talk to each other, so places like the rabbit café are precious.
It seems that many parents of children with intellectual disabilities or developmental disabilities gather here, but parents of children with physical disabilities such as visual or hearing impairments are also very welcome.
I hope that not only parents of children with disabilities or developmental concerns but also those who may have such children around them or may become involved in the future will know this place as a kind of heart's protection.
Data on the Rabbit Café
| Name | Rabbit Café |
|---|---|
| Address | 2463-6 Nitta, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-431-1651 |
| Parking | None |
| Business Hours | 10 AM to 3 PM |
| Regular Holidays | Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays Only once a month on Sundays |
| Payment Methods |
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| Website | Certified NPO Parent Support Step |
