Next to Tokyo’s bustling Takadanobaba station sits the quiet oasis of Café Marisol. When Yan Zhao, a 24-year-old housewife, was looking for a place to meet a friend in December, Marisol came to the top of her Google map search.
“The place looks very tranquil and nice. The Christmas-themed decorations are adorable and seemed like they are made by small children,” said Zhao, who later discovered the decorations were actually made by the staff working there. Half of the workers at Marisol hold the Disabled Notebook (障害者手帳) which is the official identification for disabled people in Japan.
People with intellectual disabilities need employment to interact with the wider world beyond special school, friends, and family says Hiroyuki Iso, the chief support staff for the Takadanobaba welfare workspace. The workspace provides a wide range of welfare employment opportunities from folding boxes to working at Café Marisol and is operated by an NGO, Ikuseikai.
“Making connections with the customers and the staff team through work is extremely important,” said Iso.
In efforts to promote employment of disabled people, the Japanese government set a statutory quota for private companies to hire disabled workers. However, according to Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, the actual employment rate for people with disabilities is only 2.14%, short of the current quota. An even higher new quota will be effective in April 2024 with an ambitious goal of reaching 2.7% by 2026.
When private companies fail to meet their quota, NGOs have stepped in.
Currently, about 18% of disabled workers in Japan are employed through welfare workspaces, where disabled people work alongside non-disabled staff. Marisol is one of 23,410 such workspaces specially designed to employ and prepare disabled workers professionally and mentally for jobs in private companies.
The work programs for disabled people usually start after graduation from special high schools with an application to the local government agency (区役所). The agency evaluates and places disabled people in employment or social support programs operated by government-subsidized NGOs. Employment program ranges from career coaching to workspace employment like at Marisol.
Workspaces will then provide jobs appropriate to each person’s level of disability with a salary determined by the workspace’s profit margin. At Marisol, disabled workers are assigned to tasks including cleaning tables, serving food, kneading bread dough, and making coffee.
While institutions like Marisol are trying to fill the void between the employment rate goal and the reality, they are all under financial pressure. “Only relying on governmental subsidy, our daily operation is extremely hard,” said Yumi Tsurumoto, the board chairman of Kagayakikai, an NGO currently supporting 170 disabled people.
As a result of financial constraints, many NGO-operated workspaces are understaffed. At the Takadanobaba Welfare Workspace, only 17 staffers support 58 disabled workers. Iso blames the low salary as making it difficult to attract staffers.
“I really hope the government can raise the salary for us,” said Iso.
In addition to Iso and his staffers’ administrative work, they also need to emotionally support the disabled workers. For instance, when disabled workers lack motivation to work and become agitated, Iso said that his team must calm them down by gently talking through the problem, even if it takes hours.
However, after 10 years of working with disabled people, Iso regards it as more than a job. “By working alongside the participants, I feel that I have also grown,” said Iso. “I learned how to truly understand people who are important to you and how to listen to the unspoken words.”
Marisol has become Zhao’s go-to café spot at Takadanobaba for the past three months. She visits not only for Marisol’s affordable price and great location, but also just a way to show support. “It’s an indirect way of helping disabled people find employment,” said Zhao.
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