Joanna Keen

He was so shocked about that, but he was trying to get something to work.

He tried to get work.

One of Akiko's friends mentioned the cafe idea, but the initiative was delayed because of the COVID pandemic.

By the time it took off, her father's dementia got worse and he couldn't take part.

Still, Akiko tells me, this has been a gratifying experience for her and the elderly volunteers.

People want to draw a line, a person who is not disabled, enabled.

I don't like that.

And everybody needs a place to be needed.

I think they need identity.

They need a place.

They need a place to be himself or herself.

I didn't want my dad to work here.

And I didn't want him to feel needed here.

Johanna Rivera is an exchange student from the Philippines.

She studies nutrition and mental health and has heard about the cafe through social media.

He was very patient.

It's been just over a year since Morita-san started working here.

His wife Masako comes with him every time.

She does everything she can to keep him active, even if he sometimes complains about his exercise classes.

But the cafe, she tells me,