In Osaka, Japan, there is a café staffed by… Bears? Well, not real bears, anyways. The “Bear Paw” café is a small, cute establishment run by a mental health group called Mental Support General Academy. Your order is taken and given to you through a just-big-enough window by bear paws. The people behind the bear paws are those that struggle with social interactions for reasons spanning from domestic violence, anxiety disorders, depression, or previous trauma in the workplace. To address this, the Bear Paw gives the employees a chance to slowly integrate into the job market and get used to interacting with others in a public setting instead of forcing them into potentially overwhelming situations, such as a traditional customer service environment. Their website lists their services as providing “growth of the heart” and “adaptability to society” for those who work as the paws.
The café opened in 2021, during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps some of the success can be attributed to the desire for less face-to-face contact, but the majority can likely be connected to the novelty of the paws and the genuine good the café seems to provide for the community. By addressing and supporting those with mental health struggles, instead of abandoning them, the Bear Paw café helps to creative a positive attitude towards those who are struggling, and allows them to recover at their own pace. As a result, numerous news stations and foreign organizations have reported on this truly special location. The popularity of this café can hopefully inspire similar business to open in other parts of the world, as the only planned future locations are in Japan.
