OKAZAKI, Aichi Pref.: A 28-year-old Japanese barista is trying to create jobs for disabled people through a project to launch coffee products in March, after the novel coronavirus epidemic deprived many such people of places to work.

“I want to create jobs (for disabled people) with my coffee,” said Kyohei Shibata from the city of Okazaki in the central prefecture of Aichi.

Shibata, who himself is hearing impaired, acquired a qualification as a barista while he was studying in Italy in 2016 following his graduation from a university in the preceding year.

After returning home, he worked at places including a cafe in the Aichi capital of Nagoya. He then started his own business to sell coffee at event venues and other locations in October 2018 to “show that disabled people can make a career choice.” Upholding the concept of “social welfare and coffee,” Shibata also runs a course in which he trains disabled people to become baristas.

In September last year, Shibata knew that the number of jobs for disabled people had been falling. Megumu Nakazawa, the 45-year-old head of Asunaro, a job support office for people with disabilities in Okazaki, told Shibata that the office had to temporarily close in line with the Japanese government’s state of emergency over the novel coronavirus between April and May last year and that the number of customers had remained low after the lifting of the emergency declaration. Asunaro runs a cafe and manufactures auto parts.

Then, Shibata conceived the idea of entrusting the jobs of packaging coffee products and making candles from coffee grounds to Asunaro.

Late last September, Shibata called for support through crowdfunding to purchase a roasting machine and prepare a workplace for disabled people at Asunaro. In only about a month, he successfully raised some 2.15 million yen, more than the targeted amount.

Shibata aims to seek new customers to stably outsource the jobs to Asunaro.

Shibata said that he is making coffee products that “lead to social contributions,” expressing his hope that customers will drink them at the cafe and their offices.

JIJI Press