【Oriental Hotel Okinawa Resort & Spa】
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STORY - Mar. 2024
Efforts by the region and the hotel for the children of Okinawa
Sustainable & People-Friendly Development
Throughout the year, Oriental Hotel Okinawa Resort & Spa is filled with the excitment of people enjoying their tropical vacation. One summer day, a group of students was selling a traditional Okinawan sweet called Haagaa in a corner of the hotel lobby. The students were from Tokyo Gakugei University, who were doing a two-week internship at the hotel, and Okinawa National College of Technology. The product was an original version of Haagaa developed as a collaboration between the hotel head chef Mr. Maedomari, Mr. Yasuhiro Kamiya who runs a support group called Nago Children's Cafeteria, and the university students. So what is Nago Children's Cafeteria and why are these three parties involved in a project together? We spoke with Mr. Kamiya, the students, and the hotel staff to find out more about the initiative and their thoughts about it.
The rate of child poverty in Okinawa is twice as high as that of the rest of Japan. It is said that one in three children live in poverty. Poverty is a trigger leading to serious problems lurking in environments surrounding children.
"I never imagined that I would be involved in the problem of child poverty," says Mr. Kamiya who runs Nago Children's Cafeteria. In 2011, Mr. Kamiya took early retirement from his job at a financial company in Tokyo and moved to Okinawa. Through the introduction of an acquaintance, he opened a restaurant in Nago City. At that time, a children's cafeteria was starting up in the same building as Mr. Kamiya's restaurant.
"Staff from my restaurant were volunteering at the children's cafeteria, and I gradually learned about the situation. They told me that the management was deteriorating, so I also started helping out."
Mr. Kamiya began calling on local companies in Nago City to act as sponsors. It was about this time that he met Oriental Hotel Okinawa. As a result of his efforts, companies and local communities began to express their desire for the operation to be continued. In response to this desire for there to be a place for children to feel welcome, Mr. Kamiya decided to continue running the facility.
Nago Children's Cafeteria
https://www.gonago.info/
Nago Kodomo Shokudo-75kids
https://www.instagram.com/75kids/
The exchange between Oriental Hotel and Nago Children's Cafeteria began in 2017. Every Saturday, the hotel chefs and staff would plan a menu and cook together with the children creating a warm friendship that went beyond just eating. Small tasks such as washing dishes or cleaning up also became a basis for creating connections with the children.
"Even though the children were unsure at first, they eventually warmed up to us so we could communicate," one hotel staff member recalled. The cafeteria became a place where children could feel at ease and make fun memories. And it became a place for new encounters with a variety of adults.
When the coronavirus hit in 2020, the style had to change from cooking together to preparing and serving lunch boxes for the children. Oriental Hotel provided the lunch boxes and continued with other activities to maintain ties with the children. Now that the pandemic has ended and the hotel has become busy, it has become more difficult to participate in-person, but they continue to give support through donating lunch box materials and by sponsoring events.
As Mr. Kamiya continued to run the facility, he began to think that it could be a place that not only provided meals, but also provided learning opportunities for children. "I thought that by allowing them to interact with university students, the students could become role models for them. Rather than unilaterally imposing adult values on them, the children would naturally expand their interests and express desires to become like the adults they were interacting with."
Currently, students from Tokyo Gakugei University are providing online learning support at the Children's Cafeteria every Wednesday. They are creating programs that allow children to learn naturally while having fun and playing. Students from the Okinawa National College of Technology in Nago City give support with the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) teaching materials.
Interactions with children also provide valuable learning opportunities for students studying education. Mr. Kamiya sees broadening the perspectives of students who will be responsible for society in the future as one of the pillars of his activities. "Being exposed to the actual situation of children is an opportunity for students to think about what they can do to ensure that these children are not left behind within the structure of society."
Tokyo Gakugei University Children's Learning Difficulties Support Center
https://suretgu.com/
Okinawa National College of Technology
https://www.okinawa-ct.ac.jp/
The involvement of students with the children's cafeteria is not limited to academic support. Students in Okinawa and children have collaborated to develop a new product that will help solve local issues in Nago City. The product is called Taco Spa. It is an original recipe that combines tacos and spaghetti, both of which children love! Students from Tokyo were also inolved in the project by working on package design and other aspects.
Yusei Kuba of Okinawa National College of Technology participated in the project and reflected on the activities saying, "There were many things that we could not have experienced in regular classes, and it was a difficult project, but we were able to learn a lot."
In addition, several years ago Oriental Hotel began accepting students from Tokyo Gakugei University as interns. The students were able to eperience working in a hotel while having an opportunity to actively participate in the children's cafeteria activities. Mr. Kamiya's connection with industry and academia has led to the creation of new initiatives that are valuable to children, students, and companies.
Okinawa Taco Spa!! | Nago Children's Cafeteria
https://www.gonago.info/tacospa
In the summer of 2023, students and children worked together to develop an Okinawan traditional sweet, Haagaa, which was then sold at Oriental Hotel Okinawa. The recipes thought up by the children were adjusted for balance by Oriental Hotel head chef Masaki Maedomari. Mr. Kamiya thought that the Haagaa was surprisingly delicious! As with the Taco Spa, profits from the sale of Haagaa are used to fund the operation of Nago Children's Cafeteria.
Nago Children's Cafeteria has previously invited hotel chefs including pastry chefs as guests to provide the children with the opportunity to experience professional techniques. "When children learn from professionals and become conscious of having others eat the food they make, their outlook on food changes. And when they gain confidence that 'I can do it,' it seems that their behavior changes as well." Meeting various professionals is an important piece of helping children change in positive ways.
Interns experience hotel work while being able to support the children's cafeteria. As a result they are taking part in a 3-way industry-academia collaboration project between Oriental Hotel Okinawa Resort & Spa, Nago Children's Cafeteria, and Tokyo Gakugei University.
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000001381.000016207.html
It has been about seven years since Mr. Kamiya took over the Nago Children's Cafeteria in April 2016. During this time, he has built connections with companies and educational institutions and brought them in as support for the children's cafeteria. Mr. Kamiya believes that "solving local issues can only be achieved by working together with many people."
Kyoka Tamura of Tokyo Gakugei University also commented, "Through these activities, I learned that there is value in combining the strengths of people in different industries and specialties."
Looking ahead to the future surrounding children, Mr. Kamiya aims to make the children's cafeteria self-sustaining. "I think the best cycle will be created when industry and academia work together to support children so that they can enter society with a positive and healthy attitude."
By giving back to the local community, companies create a place of learning for children and students. The children who grow up here will move society forward by building rich lives in which they are true to themselves. The many people who enjoy staying at Okinawa's hotels are also part of this cycle.
In Yambaru, the northern area of Okinawa, Mr. Kamiya together with the children from Nago Children's Cafeteria and the university students have put in motion a future that will lead to a kinder society.
Nago Children's Cafeteria provides free meals, a safe place to stay, and learning support to children who are in need of such things. Rather than eating alone without family members, kids are encouraged to gather together and have a good time! School social workers are part of the network in providing a warm and welcoming place for children who truly need support. For participation inquiries, please feel free to contact us.
