Staff writer Starting a new business in the midst of a protracted recession would seem a brave -- if not reckless -- move to most. But in the case of a restaurant that opened Thursday in Tokyo's Uguisudani district, the recession is its very raison d'etre. Restrant Genki Kosaten, a Japanese-style tavern, was established by the Free Worker's Union, a Tokyo-based organization of 60 unemployed individuals that set out to recruit laid-off workers to jointly operate a restaurant. It is the first project of its kind undertaken by a labor union in Japan. "After almost two years of seeking a job, I finally got one, which I myself partly created," said Akio Semura, 48, manager of the restaurant. Semura was dismissed by Joban Kosan Co. in June 1998 when the company decided to restructure. "Today, neither finding work nor starting a new business is easy for middle-aged workers who have been laid off," he added. "An attempt like ours, to jointly create jobs, has to be the best alternative today." Restrant's name was coined by combining the word "restructuring" with "restaurant," and roughly means energetic meeting point. Reasonably priced -- the restaurant's motto is "three drinks and three dishes for under 2,000" yen -- and located three minutes' walk from Uguisudani Station, Semura said he hopes the 120-plus-seat restaurant will become an oasis for unemployed workers. "Losing your job often leads people to think their importance in society is lost," Semura said. "I hope we can provide those people not only with a comfortable drinking spot, but also give them confidence by showing how happily and well people who have been laid off can work together." Most of the restaurant's 18 employees are laid-off workers, who have been preparing for the opening of the restaurant since December. All the steps that go into opening a restaurant -- from finding investors to put up the 30 million yen in initial costs to finding a suitable location and employees -- were largely organized by the union, utilizing the skills and knowledge they acquired in their previous careers, Semura said. Yayako Ichikawa, 77, who became the restaurant's first customer on Thursday, said she would return regularly because she agrees with the restaurant's cause. "I believe it is important for laid-off workers to have the courage to make a fresh start with whatever working opportunity is available to them, and I will support this restaurant as a customer," she said. Labor unions see the opening of the restaurant as a breakthrough that will give them a new role in society. According to Ippei Torii, general secretary of the 1,500-member Tokyo-based Zentoitsu Workers Union, labor unions need to branch out from their traditional roles of negotiating on behalf of employees with management over such issues as dismissals because people are often laid off today because a firm goes bankrupt or needs to carry out restructuring simply to survive. The union is also supporting the new restaurant. "Restrant signifies our new role in society, which is to create employment for workers ourselves," Torii said. "We are now planning to start other businesses as well, including computer maintenance and nursing-care services, in which workers can fully utilize their skills." He also hopes the restaurant will alter the traditional image of labor unions, so that more troubled workers will knock on their doors for help. "The traditional image of a union is of bleak and sober places where people only talk about labor negotiations and strategies," Torii added. "But that image can be changed by our restaurant, where unemployed people can easily talk about their situations while they have a drink." Akimitsu Tomiyama, 63, who also visited the restaurant on Thursday, said he sees the union's move as "practical and more helpful to workers," saying that their traditional dogmatic and ideology-led activities are obsolete in light of today's economic problems.
