OKAZAKI, Aichi Prefecture--When a customer at the Okinawan style restaurant Chibaru Shokudo asked a 76-year-old waitress about a menu item called “jushi,” she found it difficult to answer on her own.

But this restaurant, and its customers, are prepared for moments just like this, since four of the staffers who work there suffer from dementia.

Her manager, Takaaki Ichikawa, 41, quickly emerged from the kitchen to come to her rescue. He explained to the customer that the dish is a seasoned rice bowl popular in Okinawa.

The waitress, Noriko Ikeda, was diagnosed with dementia after she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

She deals in all tasks outside the kitchen, ranging from bringing meals to diners to retrieving empty plates--all by herself. She jots down orders on a strip of paper and hands the slips to Ichikawa.

Around noon that day, a string of regular customers came in, including Yuko Mimata, 49, a resident of Okazaki. Her younger brother saw the table set for three people with spoons and chopsticks.

“Such a sight makes me unwind,” Mimata said with a grin. One day, Mimata said they even found “three chopsticks in a single envelope” after they arrived.

A woman who visited Chibaru Shokudo with her 6-year-old nephew agreed that the restaurant has a relaxed vibe and that the customers are easy going.

“If we get served the wrong order, the only thing we would say is ‘oh, no’ or something like that,” she said. “This place is pleasant because of such mistakes.”

Chibaru Shokudo is 10 minutes by foot from Meitetsu Higashi-Okazaki Station. The restaurant is known for a noodle dish topped with soft-boiled pork ribs and for employing people with dementia who otherwise struggle to find work. Chibaru is Okinawan for “working hard.”

Ikeda is one of the four staffers in their 60s to 80s working there who have dementia. They work around three hours at lunchtime for an hourly wage higher than Aichi Prefecture’s minimum wage of 955 yen ($6.6).

“My mother is plagued by dementia and is attended to at a care facility,” said a 58-year-old woman who frequents Chibaru Shokudo. “Watching Noriko-san and others, the thought crossed my mind that it would be nice for my mother to work here.”

Chibaru Shokudo started operations in April 2019. Ichikawa, a licensed caregiver and cook, set up the company after he quit the care home facility where he had worked for 17 years.

Ichikawa had felt that “there is a barrier between the closed nursing care circle and the public."

He then learned about the popular Restaurant of Mistaken Orders program, where patients with dementia would serve customers at limited-time outlets set up across Japan. It inspired Ichikawa.

Ichikawa asked a regional support center to help recruit dementia patients who are seeking jobs.

At Chibaru Shokudo, dementia is seen almost as a personality quirk of the staff. Ichikawa has taken many steps toward ensuring the customers understand the difficulties the staffers have so that there is a community approach toward noticing mistakes in food orders.

“I also make mistakes at times,” said Ichikawa. “We work by helping each other.”

Ikeda, who became a restaurant staffer at the time of its opening, used to run a karaoke cafe and snack bar in Okazaki. As she loves working and wants to have a job as long as possible, Ikeda is on duty at Chibaru Shokudo four times a week.

Earlier this year, Ikeda began working at a Chibaru Shokudo-affiliated snack bar at night.

Dementia is a widespread health problem in Japan that is only growing.

The health ministry estimates some 6.02 million people 65 or over suffer from dementia as of 2020. By 2025, one in every five people is projected to have dementia.

Early onset dementia is also believed to affect about 36,000 people under 65.

Ichikawa said he respects the past achievements of his employees and hopes that his restaurant can serve as an example.

“Becoming elderly and finding that your only option is to stay at a care facility would be disappointing,” he said. “I will maintain the restaurant to offer a place for dementia patients to lead meaningful lives.”