Tokyo Restaurant Lets Customers Work for Their Meals

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).

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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.