A restaurant in Tokyo, Japan is giving a helping hand to those who can’t afford to eat out, by allowing them to work there in exchange for a meal.
At Mirai Shokudo (meaning ‘future eatery’), customers can work a 50-minute shift in exchange for a meal token, reports Next Shark. The average cost of lunch at the restaurant is around 900 Yen ($8).
#lunch #jinbocho #tokyo #tokyolife #miraishokudo #未来食堂 ずっと来たかったお店。ほっとする味で、寄付定食とか、困った人が使える券がある素敵なお店?
A post shared by Ayako Ishigaki (@ayakotokyo) on Feb 27, 2017 at 7:10pm PST
The owner of the restaurant in the city’s Jinbōchō district, and the only permanent member of staff, Sekai Kobayashi, estimates that she has had over 500 temporary staff, in a restaurant that only seats 12, and relishes the idea of working with someone new every day. “I use this system because I want to connect with hungry people who otherwise couldn’t eat at restaurants because they don’t have money,” Kobayashi told Asia one. The aim is to create a “a place where everyone is welcome and everyone fits in.”
The restaurant does still accept conventional payments, but it’s an interesting business model and Kobayashi sees a lot of university students through the door.
A restaurant in Kyoto made the news last year when it too offered free meals to anybody willing to do 30-minutes worth of washing up.
Read next: 19 pics from Tokyo's new Michelin-starred restaurants
Latest
