Photo/Illutration The Torinkan Kissashitsu cafe is located inside a former school building in Inabe, Mie Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The cafe I was visiting is tucked in a corner of a long-abandoned wooden school building in Inabe, Mie Prefecture.

A statue of Ninomiya Kinjiro (1787-1856) stood near the school's main entrance. Giving a sidelong glance at this national symbol of diligence and self-education, I entered the building, removed my shoes and changed into slippers.

Padding along a long corridor, I almost expected to be met by running schoolkids.

Instead, I was greeted by a smiling Fumie Natsume, 46, the cafe's proprietor.

Named Torinkan Kissashitsu, this is a "silent, no talking" establishment where everybody communicates through writing only.

"This is quite out of the ordinary for people who can hear, but plain routine for the deaf," said Natsume, who joined a sign language club when she was in high school and became acquainted with hearing-impaired people.

She continued, "Deafness is said to be a disability, but I personally feel that these people are more like foreigners whose cultures and languages are different from mine."

Natsume said she wants many people to experience that sort of welcome epiphany.

I drank coffee in a room that used to be the staff room. It was quiet there, but not soundless. I heard the wind rustling the leaves of trees outside and making the windows quiver.

A woman was knitting alone. I greeted her in writing and she responded in kind, "I am a horse racing fan. I'm knitting a scarf in the racing colors of my favorite horse." Her handwriting was neat.

Handwritten messages reveal the writers' feelings. And I enjoy waiting for handwritten responses, too. For some reason, it makes me feel a surge of nostalgia.

I asked to see written comments left by the cafe's visitors. One went, "Not speaking results in more smiles." Another, "I don't know why, but communicating on paper is definitely 'warm.'"

A wall clock sonorously struck the hour. Natsume noted, "Every time someone makes a discovery and writes about it, that makes me happy."

When I came out of the old school building, the sky was blue but I was met by a sun shower.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 18

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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.

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