【Yanaka no Okatte】 Welfare facilities and artists collaborate. Kimura Toshio Jinjin’s “Yamayabori Grand Tea Ceremony Family” is being held! Yanaka no Okatte Press Release: October 15, 2025 A welfare facility and an artist collaborate. Kimura Toshio Jinjin’s “Yamayabori Grand Tea Ceremony Family” is being held! A “community of diversity” born from spending time together The TURN LAND program, organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), and Yanaka no Okatte General Incorporated Association, is collaborating with Asakusa Miraido, a welfare facility for people with disabilities. Centered around the art project “Nodate”* by artist Kimura Toshirojinjin, the program will host a one-day special event, “Sanyabori Ocha no Yukazoku,” which was created over a period of approximately six months in collaboration with the facility’s users. Saturday, October 18, 2025, from
approximately 12:00 PM at Yamayabori Park (in front of Asakusa High School) There’s a view that “disabilities” don’t exist in individuals, but arise in relationships with society. In other words,
“disabilities” exist within society, and their shape changes depending on the community we each create. “Yamayabori Ochayu Kazoku” is an attempt to question this very nature of society. Rather than sharing a clear purpose or vision from the start, we present a vision of a community that gradually takes shape through time spent together and working together. [Official website]TURN LAND program Project Introduction Page
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interaction where people of all kinds can drop in. Date and Time: Saturday, October 18, 2025, from around 12:00 PM until sunset (rain or shine, canceled in severe weather) Venue: Yamayabori Park, in front of Asakusa High School (near Asakusa 7-9-11, Taito-ku, Tokyo) Planned and organized by: Asakusa Miraido Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, and Yanaka no Okatte General Incorporated Association Project Highlights and Reporting Perspectives 1. A form of collaboration born from a process, not the realization of a planned vision
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/162456/7/162456-7-f8cafa827f01636a12661508c837618b-2667×2000.jpg Kimura and Toshiro Jinjin, users of Asakusa Miraido, discuss the project name, while staff members watch over them. From the conceptual stage of the project, Asakusa Miraido staff, residents, and artists have been working together to develop plans. The name “Yamayabori Ochayu Kazoku” (Yamayabori Ochayu Family) was born from the desire of Asakusa Miraido residents to “build a new relationship with the town and create a warm, family-like community.” In preparation for the main event in October, rather than setting strict roles from the beginning, we will naturally ask those who appear capable to take on roles as we continue to work together. The users will also join in, at their own pace, on making tea bowls and preparing the venue, and the time they spend together will itself become a creative process. Example of interview perspective: • “Art Born from Process”: The process of collaboration, whereby each artist’s unique characteristics are utilized to create a single work known as an “outdoor tea ceremony.” • “A new form of role division”: Everyone finds their own place and contributes to the environment without instructions or delineation of roles.
2. The actual day reveals the potential of a symbiotic society
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/162456/7/162456-7-deb6350112183f2b1e27ba2b97794299-2667×2000.jpg Asakusa Miraido users and local residents drink matcha from bowls they decorated themselves.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/162456/7/162456-7-0ff54deaa01658526f5aec8eea0f104e-2667×2000.jpg Painting tea bowls while chatting. The unveiling of the “Yamayabori Ochayu Kazoku” on Saturday, October 18th, marks the culmination of our efforts to date. Asakusa Miraido users, their families, local residents, and passersby will be able to connect through the open-air tea ceremony, experiencing the fascinating community that emerges when diverse people come together and combine their strengths. Art excels at this approach, enabling a flexible form of collaboration that embraces diverse visions without a single goal. This scene will surely offer many insights for those interested in symbiotic societies, the future of communities, and future management in collaboration with diverse people. Example of interview perspective: • “Witnessing the Possibilities of Coexistence”: A glimpse of interaction in which people share their love for tea, overcoming their differences, through conversations about tea bowl painting and tea. • “Model for a Sustainable Community”: A system in which art motivates participants and encourages spontaneous engagement, generating social capital. 3. A sustainable future created by “spontaneous joy”
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/162456/7/162456-7-47474d1bf36ede6a1feeb17c10bb0da5-2667×2000.jpg A user who is good at drawing cars created a “No Parking” poster, which was then installed at the event venue together with an artist. The appeal of this project lies in the freedom it offers to give shape to the genuine feelings of the diverse project members: “I want to make this happen” and “I want to be involved with these people.” By helping users, welfare workers, and local collaborators realize their dreams of what would be wonderful, we hope to see our activities continue as a source of joy for them, rather than a burden. In today’s society, where the birthrate is declining and communities are becoming weaker, this initiative offers insights into new ways of participating in society based on autonomy and creativity. Example of interview perspective: • “The joy of active participation”: Watch as users, welfare workers, and local collaborators transform from “people helping artists” to “people who work together with artists to create a captivating landscape.” • “A New Relationship Between Welfare Facilities and the City”: By bringing art into the city for their own enjoyment, welfare facilities, as “members of society,” have the potential to create new connections and bring cultural time to the local community.
Artist profile
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/162456/7/162456-7-23600836298c13663bc87f05a4576313-1210×840.jpg Kimura Toshiro Jinjin Since 1995, he has been holding his unique “Nodate” (open-air tea ceremony) across the country. He is an artist who creates unique encounters with passersby and spectators on the streets and in vacant lots. He performs drag queens and sets up a mobile ceramic tea stall called “Nodate,” where participants paint unglazed tea bowls and enjoy tea in them after they’ve been fired on the spot. He creates a relaxed atmosphere through interactions throughout the process leading up to the event, including a “Walk-Up” where everyone chooses the venue together and a “Experience Briefing” where participants learn about the process with volunteer staff on the day, just as if it were the real thing. Photos by Ayaka Umeda About the TURN LAND Program The TURN LAND program brings together welfare facility staff, users, artists, and local residents to develop art programs while exploring the appeal of the base space and the people who gather there. We aim to create a situation where people with different customs, perspectives, and values can accept each other’s differences and “coexist.” We leverage the unique characteristics of art and the welfare field to creatively overcome various “barriers” and create a situation that makes people look forward to the near future. In addition, by providing a space where welfare workers and artists can gather and share knowledge, we foster a network of colleagues who will cooperate to realize a society where we can live together in harmony. Starting in 2022, 19 facilities from a variety of welfare settings are participating, including elderly group homes and day care centers, welfare facilities for the disabled, free schools, and after-school day care centers. Artists with a wide range of expertise, including dancers, musicians, engineers, and philosophers, are also participating. For more information about the TURN LAND program, please visit the website. https://turn-land-program.com/ Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), and Yanaka no Okatte General Incorporated Association Contact Yanaka Okatte General Incorporated Association TURN LAND Program Office (Contact: Watanabe) MAIL: info.turnland@gmail.com WEB:
https://turn-land-program.com/#information For more information about this release