Photo/Illutration Arisa Okumura (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

“Dear my 20-year-old self,” went a note Arisa Okumura found one day in a desk at her parents’ home, “Have you realized your dream of working at a cafe?”

The note was written in pencil when she had been an elementary school student. Seeing the note was the moment she realized she had forgotten her dream, said Okumura, who is now 30.

Okumura was in the third grade when she first learned she did not speak the same way that others did.

One classmate with whom she had been good friends came up to her one day and said, “My mother said I might end up speaking like you do if I keep playing with you.”

It appears the friend’s mother saw, during a visit to the class, how Okumura stuttered when she read aloud from a textbook.

Okumura continued to be bullied until she was in junior high school.

Stuttering is a disorder that obstructs fluent speech. It is, of course, not contagious.

It is believed that one in every 100 or so people stutters. Many prominent figures, including U.S. President Joe Biden, have said they also stutter.

Okumura said she also suffered for a long time from a lack of self-confidence. But the note from her elementary school years encouraged her to start working, in the summer last year, on a project called “Chumon ni Jikan ga Kakaru Cafe” (A cafe where it takes a long time taking orders), where all the workers are stutterers.

She is running the enterprise partly in the pursuit of her dream and partly in the hopes that it will help more people learn more about stuttering. She has since been working with her colleagues to operate pop-up cafes under the project in different parts of Japan.

I had the occasion the other day to visit a pop-up cafe set up under a temporary tent in Kobe.

“E ... e ... excuse me.” The way the young workers spoke sounded rhythmical as several of them were seen taking turns taking orders for drinks.

I wondered if they were having problems due to their difficulties with speech, but they seemed quite cheerful.

I was overwhelmed by the power with which stored-up words were spoken, as if they were being squeezed out, like, “I ... I had a good time.”

I asked Okumura what she would do if she were to see her former self from her elementary school years.

“I wish I could tell her not to worry, because she was so worried about becoming an adult,” she said. “I would love to tell her that her dream came true.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 16

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News