Iwao's Café Seven Islands
The objective is to bring people together for a cultural exchange where we can learn from one another through food, music and crafts .
To experience past and present traditions of the Japanese culture, helping locals to better their understanding of the English language while improving your Japanese :)
When joining our team your role will depend on your skillset and how long you can stay with us. Volunteers will have a one week trial period, where we can see if both parties are happy with the working arrangement and if there is enough work for everyone on the project.Most importantly we are all enjoying our time together!
Volunteers with Building and Carpentry expertise are really appreciated as the current volunteers house is an ongoing project. We will need someone to manage and see through the project if possible.
We have a small vegetable patch so if you have experience in horticulture you can help us grow and maybe expand our produce.
Sewing skills are also good as we have a shop in the café where we sell second hand Kimonos and fabrics, some of them might need mending and repairing.
We currently have positions open for designers and photographers, we would like someone to help us with the 'Seven Islands' project, taking day to day pictures and updating our social media sites.
To help us reach more consumers and deliver our objectives!
Also any other general skills you think will contribute to the project are very welcome!
Let's make good use of your talents and specialties and establish a friendly and creative atmosphere at Iwao`s cafe, use your creativity! If you are inspired to artistically add to either the cafe or volunteer house, feel free to discuss it with Iwao.
In exchange of your volunteering work we can offer you a bed in a shared volunteers house, rooms depending on the number of volunteers, you will also receive delicious food.
Café Details:
Café opening hours: 12.00 to 21.00 Tuesday to Sunday
Note: Monday is the Naoshima island rest day, the Cafe and all the museums will be closed.
Therefore you cannot check in on this day.
Working hours: Normally we will be working on shifts of 6h a day but this will vary depending on the amount of volunteers and the ongoing project at the cafe and volunteers house.
Day Off: Mondays - if you would like an extra day off we can arrange it with enough notice.
Usually if you stay for less than 10 days we can not guarantee the extra day off.
It really much depends on the number of volunteers.
So if you would like to explore more of Naoshima, or do some island hopping, please plan your stay so that you can have some extra time at the end of your volunteering.
Volunteers included meal times (on working days):
Breakfast: 9:30 - simple toast, egg, tea/coffee, yogurt
Lunch: 15:00 - meal by Iwao
Dinner: 21:00 - After last customer leaves -meal by Iwao
(time will depend on how busy the cafe is)
Vegetarians and vegans are hard to cater for, pescaterians are ok.
Café duties:
Volunteer as a front of house:
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Greeting customers
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Offer outdoor/indoor seating and showing them the way with menus at hand
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Bring complimentary water, and preparing drinks
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Waiter/waitress and washing up duties
Volunteer as a kitchen helper:
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Only one person will be in the kitchen with Iwao
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Help Iwao by creating side dishes and assisting with small prep work
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Keeping the workspace organized, and cleaning up as you go
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Making sure we have all ingredients we need
Team spirit and positivity are very important virtues at Iwao`s café, we try to create a very welcoming atmosphere and always have a smile!
How to get to Naoshima island:
To get from any major city to Uno Port, use the Hyperdia transport travel app,
which can be used on iPhones and Android devices, to plan your train route (You can also use www.hyperdia.com, however the mobile apps have a built in search function for JR Pass holders, so I think this method is more useful for tourists). The rail system and shinkansen here are very fast and efficient so it should be straightforward and clear.
There are two ferry ports on Naoshima Island -
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Honmura
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Miyanoura
There are also two ports on the mainland that service Naoshima -
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Takamatsu - Service to Miyanoura only (Adult fare 520￥)
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Uno - Services to Honmura and Miyanoura (Adult fare 290￥)
If you search ʺIwao's cafeʺ on Google Maps or just insert the address:
884-1, Hommura Naoshima, Kagawa-Gun, Kagawa, Japan 761-3110
you will see that the Cafe is within walking distance from Honmura Port (about 5 minutes), therefore, it might be easier and cheaper for you to catch a passenger ferry from Uno Port - Naoshima (Honmura),
but they do not run as frequently. The ferries to Miyanoura run more frequently (almost every hour).
If you arrive in Miyanoura, you can either walk (30-35 minutes) or you will need to take the colorful spotted bus at the ferry terminal (when you exit the ferry, walk straight to terminal 2 and the bus will be on your right) to the Honmura area of the island. Bus fare is 100Y, paid when you get off the bus
(not when you get on!).Get off at the Art House Project (Nokyo-mae) stop and walk to the cafe.
The ferry schedule is here: http://unoslopehouse.com/Naoshima-Island-ferry-timetable.php
Hope you will join us!
If interested please send us a message only via HelpX.com with clear details of your intended length of stay and we will do our best to reply as soon as possible!
See you soon and oai dekirunowo tanoshimini shite imasu!
