Israel is best known globally for exporting high-tech, cybersecurity and technological innovation. But a very different kind of Israeli model has now reached Tokyo: a social enterprise built around employment, dignity and community inclusion.
In the heart of the Japanese capital, a new café called GOOD THE GOOD recently opened based on a model developed in Israel by the Shekulo Tov (All Good) Group, which works to integrate people with mental health challenges and disabilities into meaningful employment and daily contact with the wider community.
The partnership was formed between the Israeli group and Japan’s Start-Line, one of the country’s leading companies in the field of employment integration for people with disabilities. As part of the collaboration, Japanese teams received professional training based on the knowledge and experience accumulated in Israel.
In Japan, as in many other countries, integrating people with disabilities into the labor market has become a major social challenge in recent years. The connection between Israeli experience and Japanese resources is meant to create new opportunities for populations that previously struggled to find their place in the working world.
An approach that believes in people
Shekulo Tov is known in Israel for social enterprises such as the Sipur Hozer secondhand bookstore chain, Café Tov social cafés and secondhand shops across the country. Over the years, the model it developed has helped thousands of people with disabilities enter the open labor market, strengthen personal independence and become part of the community.
GOOD THE GOOD cafe in Tokyo
(Video: Courtesy of Shekulo Tov)
“Israel knows how to export to the world not only technology, but also social models that create real and equal opportunity for every person,” said Ofer Cohen, CEO of the Shekulo Tov Group.
“Over the years, we developed an approach that believes in the person, in their ability to move forward and in the power of the community to open doors,” he added. “We thank the economic mission in Japan, Ambassador Gilad Cohen and the embassy team for their partnership and for understanding that social innovation is part of Israel’s story in the world.”
To mark the launch, Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, visited the café together with Economic Minister Daniel Kolbar and embassy spokesperson Mor Eliyahu. The delegation toured the site, met the management of the Japanese company and the operating teams, and heard the workers’ stories firsthand.
The most moving moment came when the ambassador joined employees behind the coffee machine and prepared drinks with them for guests. The café workers, people coping with mental health challenges who are being integrated through the project, prepared special refreshments for the delegation and shared their personal experiences.
In return, the ambassador told them about similar initiatives in Israel and about the challenges Israeli society has faced since the outbreak of the war. Some of the Japanese participants were moved to tears.
“Promoting the integration of people with disabilities in society and employment is very close to my heart,” Ambassador Cohen said. “This project demonstrates how cooperation between Israel and Japan can create new opportunities, advance equal opportunity and have a real impact on people’s lives.”
At a time when Israel often faces difficult headlines on the international stage, the story of GOOD THE GOOD offers a different angle: the export of social knowledge, compassion and hope, and a shared language that needs no translation.