Following text is written by Hideo Makihara, General Manager of Onomichi Guest House Miharashi-tei.
----------
Greetings from the city of Onomichi Hiroshima, Japan. We hope you, your family and friends be healthy and well. We would like to express a sincere gratitude to those who have been fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our guest houses Anago No Nedoko and Miharashi-tei have been extremely popular and have had guests from Japan and allover the world (about 60 countries/regions). Given that the main accommodation style is shared dorm rooms, it has been a great place to share travel tips/stories and make friends. Anago No Nedoko has a café attached to it called Akubi Café. It also has been a popular spot for lunch, snacks, and coffee/drinks. It has all changed due to the COVID-19 and we have been closed since early April.
A local NPO, Onomichi Abandoned House Reclamation Project runs the two guest houses and the café and have been trying to survive without firing any staff (we have 25 or so full/part time staff) but it has been very challenging. Up until now, we have been hesitant to ask help, as guest houses in general are not what is so called essential services. At the same time, we are an important part of the community and community building effort. The guest houses/café are for not just saving old houses, but also for a job opportunity for those who wish to relocate to Onomichi and/or those who have an aspiring career goal(s), but are in need of alternative income sources. So, we decided to start a crowd funding project. If you could help us, that would be very much appreciated.
The crowd funding site does not have English pages. Therefore, for those who do not read Japanese, it is impossible to contribute. If you would like to do so, you could send us a note from Miharashi-tei Facebook page. Please let us know your e-mail address and the amount of contribution you would like to make. We will send in an invoice.
Please also let us know if you would like to receive a reward package (which varies depending on your contribution). If you would just like to help us without a reward package, it is possible to decline.
For more information about the NPO, the following notes will be a good place to start:
If you would like to know more about the Miharashi-tei renovation project, here it is.
We also have a short video clip we created for the Miharashi-tei crowdfunding. (For English subtitles, turn on CC, then from the setting, select Autotranslation to English.)
Please let us know if you have any question.
Thank you for your time.
Hideo Makhiara
General Manager, Onomichi Guest House Miharashi-tei
