Hello everyone, I am Seiichi Lee, the representative of BORDERLESS HOUSE Co., Ltd. Our company was founded in 2008, and the goal of our share house business is to create a multicultural society where people can mutually understand each other’s background regardless of race or nationality, and without prejudice or discrimination.
Almost 3 years into the pandemic, our business has been affected by COVID-19 due to the entry restrictions for foreigners to Japan, fortunately, the situation has gradually gotten better. Thus, we’ve started to create a place full of “Cross-cultural Understanding & Multicultural Coexistence”, which also will be a new base for people from around the world can gather together in Japan.
About the New Project
◆The approach to social problems
With the increased number of foreign tourists and foreign employees, the situation of “foreigners not being able to rent a house in Japan” has drastically improved in the past 10 years.
However, originally, the cause of this problem was because of the prejudice of people who think that “foreigners are different from us”, and I kindly ask you to think about it with us.
One of the surest ways to eliminate this kind of prejudice is to create an opportunity that allows everyone to interact with people from different backgrounds.
We believe that through building relationships among people, we can learn about and embrace each other’s differences in values, in other words, foster mutual understanding.
In order to achieve that goal, BORDERLESS HOUSE has been offering the environment and experience of communal living.
We have also been proactive in building relationships between the residents and the local community, in order to provide local people with opportunities to encounter different cultures.
“Share house” is our first step, but now, it’s time to take the next step with our new project.
What’s needed to create a multicultural society where people respect each other’s differences is to – not just learn about those differences but also directly interact with them. We believe that experience is necessary.
We have newly established a new center to provide this kind of opportunity to learn about “differences”. At the same time, we will create a community that is involved in different cultures.
This is our new project – BORDERLESS STATION.
The base of this new project is in Asakusabashi, Tokyo
We rented a guesthouse and cafe bar that was closed down due to COVID-19 and used the upper floors as a share house and the first floor as the base of this project.
It was a challenge for us to revive this place from the aftereffects of a pandemic with a new community and our vision.
※2For detailed information on the share house, click here＞＞
The Concept of BORDERLESS STATION
There are two main concepts in our new project.
The first one is to create a broadcasting booth to share a podcast on the theme of “Understanding the differences” and to communicate various topics on diversity.
The second one is to have a lounge space that will be used for various events and workshops that will provide opportunities to learn about different cultures.
①Broadcasting station for sharing information on the theme of diversity
The theme of the broadcast is “Let’s start by learning!”
We will have a broadcasting channel that will help people get involved in diversity and cross-cultural understanding. We will invite guest speakers from different backgrounds and countries to share their stories.
Also, as the broadcasting booth will be facing the lounge, so it can be used for event broadcasting. We hope that this place can help the community to promote and communicate its vision and values.
We would also like to provide an opportunity for young people who are struggling with problems of “minorities” and “identity” to share their experiences in order to develop new values.
② Bar with a theme of Cross-cultural Understanding and Exchange
The bar with a daily theme is where people can gain a deeper understanding of diversity, arouse interest in cultural differences, and induce empathy with different values through “Participation and Discussion”
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the shared kitchen will be operated by exotic restaurants. They would bring authentic and exotic cuisine home-cooked to BORDERLESS STATION.
So everyone can enjoy learning about the “differences” through “food”. We would like to use this shared kitchen as a gateway to different cultures.
At the moment, an Argentinian restaurant has been selected to join us, and we are still accepting more partnerships with amazing restaurants!
Friday and Saturday will be a dining bar run by us, BORDERLESS HOUSE!
The dining bar is where you can enjoy food and drinks from various countries while adding diversity and multicultural-themed content to make it much more fun.
For example, on Fridays, we plan to have multicultural organizations and communities join us to share their activities and create a place where people can talk and think about how to make the world a better place together.
And on Saturdays, our multicultural residents of BORDERLESS HOUSE will be the host of the bar. There will be a place where people can encounter new values through workshops and fun activities that expose them to the cultures and values of different countries.
Speaking of the dining bar, it will be supervised by Okaneya-san, who is an explorer of the world’s kitchens, and she will offer “snacks from around the world” that cannot be found anywhere else!
※For more details about Okaneya-san, check here＞＞(Japanese only)
In this project, we wil also be working together with BORDERLESS HOUSE staff, residents, and partners to create a project that will allow us to get close to the local community.
Based on these contents, we aim to make BORDERLESS STATION a place where anyone can easily have opportunities to learn about “differences” and get involved in the community.
(A community event planned by BORDERLESS HOUSE residents in May 2022)
※For the details of the event that is organized by Borderless House residents, check here.
*The details of the operating hours of BORDERLESS STATION will be announced later.
How to support this project (Sept 2022)
Rather than the relationship between a business owner and customers as a typical restaurant/bar, we would like to work as a community with people who can sympathize and share the same vision and thoughts with us.
Also, this project is not just a business that expects a return on investment, but a social activity. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we would have to ask for your help to support this project.
Most important of all, we want to make it a place where everyone can make good use of it. I’ve decided to start with crowdfunding.
Click here for the crowdfunding page ＞＞＞
※We are sorry but since the webpage is only in Japanese, please click the right button on the mouse and translate the webpage to your preferred language if needed.
The support from crowdfunding will be used only for the initial start-up costs and does not cover any subsequent operating costs.
In addition to the existing business of share house approach as a place to nurture mutual understanding, this new community place – BORDERLESS STATION (abbreviated as B station) will be opened soon!
Thank you very much for your support!
Last Message
Our cross-cultural exchange project has had a very difficult time over the past two years due to borders closing.
At the same time, in our society, we are facing the same problems as in the rest of the world, such as the hate against Asians due to the spread of COVID-19, BLM in the US, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the conflict between China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and the conflicts between countries, cultures, and ideologies.
These are big and serious problems that we cannot seem to confront, and for this reason, I believe that what we can do is foster mutual understanding among citizens, transcending each other’s values. Connecting and building relationships with people of different backgrounds and countries is more important now than ever before.
We at BORDERLESS HOUSE believe that creating such connections will sow the seeds of peace for the future, and we will continue to do so.
We look forward to your support.
At the BBQ, while we were eating, everyone talked about what life is like in their own share houses.
After we finished the BBQ, we all went for a walk in the beautiful, green park to enjoy the autumn scenery.
The best part of making udon? It was stepping on the dough!
