Professor James Farrar of Sophia University's School of International Liberal Studies conducted a survey of privately run restaurants around JR Nishi-Ogikubo Station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, and found that they function as social infrastructure for the local community. .Professor Farrar sees the results as a sign of the importance of preserving the buildings that support small businesses.
According to Sophia University, Professor Farrar collected and analyzed data from approximately 2015 people involved in privately run restaurants in Nishi-Ogikubo between 2023 and 70.As a result, we found that restaurants, regardless of their type of business, such as cafes or restaurants, have become places where people can build networks, and where they can be politically mobilized for various social activities.
We also discovered a case in which one of the cafe's owners, after learning that a beloved Keyuka tree in the area would be cut down due to housing construction, launched a campaign to preserve the tree, which led to the creation of a small urban park.
In contemporary Tokyo, the local communities surrounding restaurants are facing a crisis due to the aging of the population, the progress of large-scale redevelopment projects, and the oligopolization of the food industry by large corporations.Nishi-Ogikubo's restaurants play a role in defining the region's identity through dining and socializing.Professor Farrar believes that local ecosystems centered around independent restaurants can serve as a model for cities around the world.
Paper information:【Food, Culture & Society】Urban foodways and social sustainability: neighborhood restaurants as social infrastructure
