Samの英語チャンネル

Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is upfront about potential problems in order to cultivate future understanding.

Japan has incredibly high customer service standards, especially where restaurants are concerned. Because of that, a restaurant saying, in advance, that it might get your order wrong seems like a recipe for dissatisfied diners, but that strategy led to smiles all around, plus a few appreciative tears, recently in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.

“Restaurant of Mistaken Orders” didn’t get its unusual name through a translation error, as that really is a pretty accurate rendering of its Japanese name, Chumon wo Machigaeru Kamoshirenai Ryori-ten. That less-than-perfect precision isn’t due to a lack of effort or concern on the restaurant’s part, though, but because the waitstaff is composed of senior citizens with dementia.

Restaurant of Mistaken Orders, which started out in 2018, operates on a popup basis, partnering with preexisting restaurants which serve as a venue for the unique eatery for the day. For its most recent iteration in Matsuyama, Restaurant of Mistaken Orders teamed up with Tenryu Ramen on September 21, which was both the Japanese public holiday Respect for the Aged Day and World Alzheimer’s Day.

▼ Restaurant of Mistaken Orders at Tenryu Ramen

It should be pointed out that the driving philosophy behind Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is not “Let’s get those dementia-stricken seniors working!” Instead, the purpose of the venture is to foster a greater sense of awareness and consideration towards people living with dementia, and also to give the participating seniors a sense of confidence and accomplishment by showing that their condition doesn’t have to mean complete debilitation and isolation from human interaction. “We hope this feeling of openness and understanding will spread across Japan, and through the world” says the organization in is mission statement, showing that the restaurant setting is meant to serve as a sort of metaphor for kindness wherever one may encounter someone with dementia.

In Matsuyama, four local seniors, ranging in age from 78 to 88, took orders and served diners, including the daughter and granddaughter of one of the participants (the daughter is the woman who can be seen wiping away tears in the above video, while talking about how emotionally moving it is to see her mother staying active). “If we took our time and listened and spoke patiently, we could understand each other,” says a father of a family of four that are at Restaurant of Mistaken Orders of communicating with the staff, and one of the elderly waitresses, at the end of the event, said with a smile “I was really happy to get to see so many people and talk with them.”

▼ The project’s concept video

With community outreach and public awareness being the primary goals, operating profits aren’t really a priority for Restaurant of Mistaken Orders, and the organization accepts online donations here for those that aren’t able to come in for a bite to eat, but still want to lend a helping hand.

Related: Restaurant of Mistaken Orders official website, Facebook page
Source: ITV, Fukuoka TNC News, Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
Top image: Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
Insert images: Yahoo! Japan Net Donations/ Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
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Source: SORA NEWS24