Some good updates about the work that I am doing at present.
In Nov 2013, I had set up a 100 yen social cafe in Omagari, the city of fireworks, to accommodate the social withdrawn youths and young adults, acting as a "free space" and a place to relearn one self. If you read Japanese, please learn more from this site. 
Since the social cafe opened, I began to realize the hidden needs is so large. 70 people had visited the cafe since it opened, and 3/4 are regulars. There is around 3-7 users per day.
The work is welcomed by the city office, gaining support from the local community, and had attracted the attention of the local media, both newspaper and TV news.
I have a several others, a local elderly, and volunteer social withdraw young adults that help me to run the cafe. Everyone involved in this work is unpaid volunteer, and I work as a full time volunteer. The cafe offers several classes, at present most are offered freely to the users.
Running cost of the work is about ten thousand per month in winter, and five thousand per month in summer.
100 yen is collected from the cafe users, which makes up to an average of income 500 yen per day and approximately 2500 yen per month. A donation box is set at the entry. Some additional activities in the weekends bi-weekly, adds up to an additional 10000 yen per month. The income provided by the cafe is far short from what the expenditure (1/8). 
The reason to set the user's fee as 100 yen per day is to provide an easy assess for the poor and disadvantage. It helps us to capture the dropped out that were incompatible to the standard of social welfare restriction. Cases were referred from the mental health clinic, municipality office and other support stations and lifeline.
To sustain the cafe, we need to raise fund.
I am planning to offer classes from spring, hopefully that helps to cover the running cost.
One of the major objective of this work is to create job opportunities for the social withdraw youths and young adults. As Japan has an unique social system that ensure most ordinary people has a fit in the society, which is good for the average. Yet, it makes the dropped out a harder time to remerge into the system compared to the other countries. The declining of economic power and earning power had resulted more drop outs in the society in recent 20 years, which had turned into serious social problems that began to surface in last 10 years. Japan will need a change. And perhaps, the Hikiya model (our work in Omagari) will provides a solution to the current needs.
The first community project (snow shovel and foot washing in Feb and Mar 2014) is gaining a good support from the prefecture. A 300,000 yen fund is secured for the project.
Piling up with the experience we gain in this year, there are much more that we can do to help the social withdraw youths and young adult to seek a tunnel out. For the coming year (Apr 2014 - Mar 2015), I plan to incorporate a business hour 11:00-14:30 (e.g. restaurant etc.) to the social cafe for three reasons. One, an employment opportunity and job experience for the social dropped out. Two, an opportunity for the social dropped out to serve the local community. Three, self-sustainable tool. In order to get the license to run a restaurant or cafe, the current space need to reform to meet the regulations of the local health center. A conservative budget is estimated to be 200,000 yen. To operate the social business, a conservative estimation of additional 400,000 yen operation fees per month is needed to pay for training, wages (approx. 5 staffs). With this, I am looking forward for a 5 million yen to help start the social business. The social cafe is expected to be self-sustainable from Apr 2015.
The ministry model is perhaps the first in history.
Please pray about this.
God has always provide us miraculously. And it is always amazing to see how mountains are moved and things being speed up, the favor that the work had gained just shows us how much He cares about the hikikomori and the social issues in Japan.
Meanwhile the work is largely backed by the Omagari Lutheran Church and the local community.
Meanwhile the work is largely backed by the Omagari Lutheran Church and the local community.
I feel that it is time for a wider partnership.
Your partnership will lead to a wide open door for His work in Japan.
If you are in business, it may also lead to an open door for new business opportunity.
Contribution of financial support is very much appreciated. I pray that our Father bless you abundantly in return to what you offer. Please feel free to contact me with whatever amount that you wish to offer. Please pray that the LORD will move people to support this project.
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