J Lodge

This past week the team got to spend a lot of time in Tokyo. It was definitely a new experience for me! We learned a lot about life in Japan.

One of the things we got to do was leave the city and go to the Yokohama area. We were going to visit a JEMs ministry called J Lodge. J Lodge is a cafe that is located on a street heavy with foot traffic from the local college to the train station. They exist to create an environment for people to hang out and to interact with the customers and build relationships.

The couple running J Lodge are David and Yuka. David was there to help kick things off with the customers. There were a couple girls playing cards, a guy sitting at the counter, and a guy working behind the cashier.

Steph and I went to go meet with the girls. It was a bit awkward at first because they spoke little English and we spoke little Japanese. But then Mark came around and gave us a set of HIGH (How I Got Here) cards. These cards were created to be used as a tool to tell your story. When we laid them out for the girls to use, they opened up and through broken communication we were able to hear a bit about them.

It was through my conversation with them that I learned that the guy who was working, Takashi, also makes desserts and they said it was really yummy. After we played a few card games, we separated to meet with others so I talked with Takashi. It was very neat to hear about his passion for baking and for making coffee. He also has an amazing story (one that will have to be shared later!) but the one thing that was very affirming to me is his dream to become a better barista and open his own cafe in his hometown in Kyushu. We both want to use our love for food to love on others. It was nice to meet someone with a similar dream as mine :)

Many other great things happened that night that I hope the team gets to share later on!