Cafes prohibiting speaking, aka silent cafes, have been on the rise in recent years. But the newly opened Shojo (清浄) cafe in Osaka’s hip Nakazaki district is using silence to promote an environment without disabilities for its hearing-impaired staff.
With only sign language, handwriting, and pointing allowed, customers can explore creative and meaningful ways to communicate, rethink the meaning of disability, and learn to slow down in the process.
There’s no music or verbal conversation inside Shojo — only footsteps and the sounds of staff preparing matcha tea. The menu features matcha and seasonal wagashi (traditional Japanese confectioneries). Customers can try their hand at making tea with the silent aid of staff. Staff also communicate with wooden placards with cute rabbit illustrations and Japanese, English, and Korean phrases. Some of them also offer one-on-one informal sign language lessons after business hours over steaming cups of tea.
The rise of silent cafes
The reading cafe R-za Dokushokan in Koenji is widely viewed as the pioneer of the silent cafe trend. Founded in 2008 by Watanabe Taiki, the cafe overflows with over 1000 books, potted plants, a large aquarium, and a calming, intentional silence. Even the menu reflects Watanabe’s desire for a quiet, reflective environment. For instance, the Letter Set comes with your drink of choice and letter paper, envelopes, and wax-sealing tools to help you pen a letter.
While the quirky cafe concept put people off at first, everyone of all ages and backgrounds soon delighted in the calm respite from city life. “I’m very pleased to hear more shops are cherishing silence,” Watanabe tells Asahi Shinbun.
As a whole, silent cafes offer low-stimulation alternatives for people, disabled or not, who struggle with life’s constant bombardment of noise and verbal communication. For instance, the 25-year old woman behind Cafe Quiet in Funabashi, Chiba started her no-speaking cafe due to personal struggles talking to people. She hopes the cafe “becomes a quiet space where people can leave the noise behind and relax.”
Another pop-up silent cafe experiment in Harajuku last year by the creative director Myoen Suguru tackled an unspoken avoidance of communicating in a different language:
“For example, because you don’t speak English, maybe you unconsciously avoid speaking to foreigners, or you unconsciously avoid talking in sign language since you don’t know how to use it. It seemed to me language itself becomes a hurdle in cases like this, so this no-talking cafe is a challenge to see what kind of experience is had when you remove all those factors.”
Myoen Suguru
Promoting barrier-free communication
Shojo owner Matsumoto Haruna modeled the cafe after one she visited during a post-graduation trip to Vietnam in 2018. She stopped at a cafe run by deaf staff who requested she communicate through writing or sign language.
Watching the staff working made her question what it meant to be disabled. In 2023, she launched Possible, an employment service company that connects disabled people with meaningful work catering to their strengths through assistive technology.
Most of Shojo’s 15 staff members have some degree of hearing impairment. One part-timer told Asahi Shinbun, “I think this [cafe] is a great opportunity for people to casually learn about deaf culture.”
Shojo only recently opened on April 1, but it’s already made a deep impression with people. One corner of the cafe is home to hundreds of Post-It notes bearing messages from customers. One reads, “I was nervous about going in, but I’m glad I had the courage to do so. My heart feels so much lighter.” Another says, “What a pleasant, quiet time. I might even try to learn sign language.”
Shojo isn’t the first cafe to combine the cafe ambiance with disability advocacy. During its five-year run in an annex of Mitaka City Public Hall, the Silent Cafe employed mostly hearing-impaired staff and championed a broader awareness of sign language and barrier-free work environments. Last year, stutterer Okumura Arisa launched an ambitious, nation-wide pop-up cafe tour staffed by people with speech impediments. These small businesses are refreshing to see, especially when government agencies would rather exaggerate disabled employment numbers than actually make an effort to hire more disabled people.
Hatsumoto and her company plan to open more disability-free businesses in the future, including a cafe where every seat is wheelchair-accessible.
Sources
「声を出せないカフェ」に人が集まるわけ。新しいコンセプトで働きかたの未来を作る方法とは。Huffington Post JP
「会話禁止」の喫茶店、注文は筆談で 「静寂」空間がじわり人気. Asahi Shinbun
＜大阪初＞店内は音を使わないコミュニケーションで “静寂をたのしむ” 、体験型抹茶カフェ『清浄 -shojo-』が4/1大阪市中崎町にオープン. PR Times
【高円寺】私語禁止の読書カフェ「アール座読書館」レポ. Let’s ENJOY TOKYO
吉祥寺の「サイレント・カフェ」が再出店－聴覚障害者が接客を担当. Kichijoji Keizai Shimbun
なぜ言葉の使用を禁止したのか 店内ではジェスチャーで会話する喫茶店を取材. Nippon News Network
