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Tokyo’s dementia restaurant serves up joy and laughter

TOKYO — Imagine ordering a hamburger and getting served dumplings instead. Or being escorted to your seat by a waitress, only to end up having to take the order yourself. Chances are such mix-ups might leave a customer bewildered or even angry.

Waitresses serve a meal to customers at "The Restaurant of Order Mistakes" in Roppongi, central Tokyo on September 16, 2017. Photo: Kyodo

Waitresses serve a meal to customers at "The Restaurant of Order Mistakes" in Roppongi, central Tokyo on September 16, 2017. Photo: Kyodo

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TOKYO — Imagine ordering a hamburger and getting served dumplings instead. Or being escorted to your seat by a waitress, only to end up having to take the order yourself. Chances are such mix-ups might leave a customer bewildered or even angry.

But not so in this Tokyo pop-up restaurant, where waiters and waitresses, all of whom have dementia, have the customers’ blessing to make mistakes. Instead of a frown or a rant, the servers are greeted with smiles and laughter.

The pop-up first opened in June, and had a second run for three days in September.

Called The Restaurant of Order Mistakes, the pop-up eatery is the brainchild of Mr Shiro Oguni, a TV director who wants to deepen awareness of dementia and change perceptions about the condition.

With Japan seeing a rapidly ageing population and a growing number of dementia sufferers, Mr Oguni said the idea behind the restaurant is for people to learn more about the condition and reflect on it. He admitted he knew little about dementia until he started researching it for work.

“More than the image that dementia is scary, worrisome and dangerous, the words I often hear from diners are positive — ‘cute,’ ‘funny,’ ‘happy to be with,’ and ‘comfortable’,” Mr Oguni, 38, said in a recent interview. “Dementia is an extremely grave issue,” he said.

“It is reassuring to hear such positive comments.”

Dementia refers to a general degeneration in the ability of a person to deal with everyday life, including memory loss, disorientation and impaired judgment. While slowing the progress of the condition is possible, there is no known cure to address the root causes.

The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. In other forms of dementia, sufferers can still retain their memory and orientation though they may become more impulsive.

Government statistics show that the number of people over 65 with dementia is expected to jump from roughly 4.62 million in 2012 to seven million by 2025. The Japanese government and private sector are stepping up efforts to deal with the soaring costs of providing medical and nursing care to people with dementia.

Ms Yoko Kono, 78, and Ms Hideko Maruyama, 82, were among the 17 waiters and waitresses on rotation on September 16. “It was fun,” Ms Maruyama said during a break at the restaurant, which opened at 11am. By the afternoon, she seemed to have forgotten about the waitressing she had done that morning, but she was eager and willing once called upon to serve again.

Echoing her co-worker, Ms Kono was all smiles when asked about her tasks. The two women said they would want to come to the restaurant as customers. The pair, who volunteered to serve at the restaurant, are from a facility run by Daiki Angel Help, which provides nursing care for the elderly.

“I am just happy if they feel the experience is somehow rewarding,” Mr Oguni said, adding he hopes the restaurant can be opened annually, perhaps coinciding with World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21.

The three-day run in September was made possible thanks to the roughly ¥12.9 million (S$156,309) raised through crowdfunding. Almost 300 people came, mainly those who helped in the crowdfunding campaign, and the restaurant was sold out every day.

The restaurant, whose name is a play on the title of a Japanese book, A Restaurant of Many Orders, was inspired by Mr Oguni’s experience of being served a dumpling instead of a hamburger one day at a nursing care facility.

He said he was about to point out the error but stopped himself and thought, “This is the world people with dementia live in. It’s no big deal. It’s OK to make mistakes.”

The project has attracted attention not only in Japan but in countries including South Korea and Australia. Humbled by the interest, Mr Oguni said the organisers are eager to share what they have learnt to replicate the initiative elsewhere.

He stressed that organising a restaurant of this nature is “not that simple”, requiring the help of professionals from the restaurant, interior design and social welfare sectors, among others. It was also important to him that the restaurant fulfilled its function and did not cut corners on the food and other details.

Mr Hideyuki Fujimi travelled all the way from Osaka City in western Japan for a meal and was satisfied with both the food and the service. “I could feel the hospitality of the staff and the care they took,” Mr Fujimi, 35, said. His friend, Mr Naoya Muto, 35, who came from Saitama City, described the atmosphere as “jovial”, and hopes the restaurant project continues.

The point is not that servers forget orders, but the outcomes sometimes draw unexpected laughter, as when a waitress escorted a diner to a table before taking a seat herself. Or when a server asked a diner to take the order of his tablemates.

Other than that, there were no major blunders, proof positive, Mr Oguni said, that even people with dementia can perform tasks under the right conditions. There were even performances by people with dementia.

Ms Yasuko Mikawa, 62, diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, played Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ave Maria on the piano, while her husband accompanied her on the cello. She also played when the restaurant first opened in June.

Mr Kazuo Mikawa, 69, said he was grateful for the opportunity given to his wife, who had stopped playing piano after being diagnosed with her condition. “It has restored her confidence,” he said.

Mr Yukio Wada of Daiki Angel Help and head of the project’s executive committee, said he was impressed to see how much Ms Mikawa’s performance had improved over the three months.

He believes the restaurant project is not only about people with dementia, but an opportunity to think about how kindness can take root in society. “It’s really not about creating a town that is friendly to people with dementia alone. Rather, it’s about how we can create a society where everyone is kind to each other,” Mr Wada said. KYODO NEWS

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