Opening of "Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN" Yokohama Store, Where Even Bedridden Individuals Can Work, Decided!

OriHime Laboratory Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representatives: Kentaro Yoshiba, Masahiro Sasayama; hereinafter referred to as OriHime Laboratory), which develops and provides the avatar robot "OriHime" with the philosophy of resolving human loneliness, will open its first family-oriented store, "Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN," in the Kannai Bashamichi area of Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture in the summer of 2027. In this cafe, individuals who have difficulty going out for various reasons such as intractable diseases, disabilities, nursing care, or childcare will operate avatar robots to serve customers.

Yokohama City attracts many families and tourists from Japan and abroad throughout the year, and the International Horticultural Expo is scheduled to be held next year. OriHime Laboratory decided to open its second store, which will be its first permanent base, in Yokohama, a place where diverse people gather, to offer more people the new option of "being able to work and participate in society even if mobility is difficult."

Prior to the opening next summer, a family-oriented event will be held in August 2026 at "MARK IS Minatomirai" to widely introduce the "OriHime avatar robot" to everyone visiting the surrounding area.

Details of the Yokohama store scheduled to open in the summer of 2027, the outline of the pre-event scheduled for the summer of 2026, and sponsoring companies are as follows:

[Avatar Robot Cafe Yokohama Store] Concept Art

[Avatar Robot Cafe Yokohama Store Overview]

Name: Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN YOKOHAMA (tentative name)

Location: Kannai Bashamichi area, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Scheduled Opening: August 2027 (scheduled)

*Subject to change due to international affairs, etc.

Store Design: Oyama Design Studio Inc.

Features of the Yokohama Store:

A cafe for families to enjoy

The "Kannai Bashamichi area," where the Yokohama store is planned to be established, is a leisure area that attracts many families from within and outside the prefecture, and has recently been attracting attention from foreign tourists. In addition to shopping malls, there are many museums and corporate museums in the surrounding area, so we plan to offer content that will make families who are enthusiastic about educating their children and have high intellectual curiosity want to visit repeatedly.

SDGs x STEAM Education Workshops

Based on the founder Orihime Yoshifuji's long-held desire to "increase young creators," we will offer workshops that provide a taste of the joy of making things. Based on OriHime Laboratory's unique perspective of confronting social issues with technology, we are developing content aimed at "STEAM education for solving social issues." Programs that provide insights through dialogue with OriHime pilots are planned to be held regularly.

Other

We are also developing programs in collaboration with surrounding municipalities and local companies to contribute to regional revitalization, such as tourism in the bay area.

[Pre-event Outline Scheduled for August 2026]

Prior to the opening of the Yokohama store, we will hold an event "OriHime MIRAI Park in Yokohama" to allow local residents and visitors to Yokohama to experience communication through the OriHime avatar robot.

Title: OriHime MIRAI Park in Yokohama

Event LP: https://dawn2021.orylab.com/yokohama-park/

Event Dates: August 25 (Tue) - August 31 (Mon), 2026

Venue: MARK IS Minatomirai, 1F "Minna no Atelier"

https://commercial.mjpm.co.jp/facility/detail/?index=1&cd=000024

Event Overview: 1 OriHime Gallery 2 Workshop Lab 3 OriHime Operation Experience

Participation Fee/Advance Registration: Not required for either

*Event details will be announced at a later date.

[Sponsoring Companies for the Avatar Robot Cafe Project (as of June 2026)]

[Sponsoring Companies for "OriHime MIRAI Park in Yokohama"]

[Comment from Representative Orihime Yoshifuji "To increase future colleagues who can solve problems"]

This project, which started in Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 2021 as an "experimental permanent store for avatar robot cafes where even bedridden individuals can work," has grown through research on both "robots" and "work styles." Five years after its opening, it now hosts 60,000 guests annually and has become a workplace for over 100 individuals with mobility challenges to work remotely.

We have received a great response from both Japan and abroad, with an increasing number of overseas guests visiting through word-of-mouth on social media. In 2025, we held our first overseas experimental cafe in Denmark. We have created examples where individuals who had difficulty working due to developmental disabilities or social anxiety, not just physical disabilities or intractable diseases, can now be employed.

Furthermore, over the past five years, we have been involved not only in training OriHime pilots but also in training engineers and researchers. We have witnessed many moments where things that were previously impossible became possible as aspiring engineers from high school to graduate school collaborated with individuals with disabilities.

I believe that "the concept of 'disability' remaining is a defeat for technology."

Technological advancements for robot development are progressing rapidly. However, it is the individuals who battle with their limitations daily who teach us what problems these technologies should solve and for what purpose. "Technology experts" and "experts in limitations" meet, converse, and co-create. I believe that the power generated by these encounters is what is needed in society going forward.

In fact, the decision to build a second avatar robot cafe was made when the cafe business stabilized and we began receiving many voices saying, "I want to work too." And when the city of "Yokohama" was chosen as a candidate, we set another theme for this store.

That theme is "to create a place where we can nurture the next generation who think together with individuals facing mobility challenges, work with their hands, and challenge social issues together."

In an era of accelerating technological innovation represented by AI, young engineers often struggle with the questions of "What should I build?" and "For whom should I use my technology?" I hope that this Yokohama store will be a place where future colleagues can discover challenges together with individuals facing mobility difficulties, use technology for someone they can see, and work to make the world a better place.

All of us, including myself, may someday become mobility-impaired due to illness or aging. Nevertheless, we will continue to challenge ourselves, aiming for a future beyond being bedridden, where we can continue to interact with people by our own will and live without being lonely.

[About the "Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN" Project]

In the Avatar Robot Cafe, individuals who have given up on working outside the home due to various reasons such as severe physical disabilities or intractable diseases work as "OriHime Pilots." They remotely operate the "OriHime avatar robot" to perform customer service tasks such as taking orders, serving food, and conversing with customers.

Following the "1st Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β" in 2018 and several demonstration events, the first permanent store opened in Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 2021. We have presented a new way of working to the world, where people can work and connect with society from their homes by utilizing avatar robots, even if their bodies cannot move. Currently, approximately 60,000 guests visit annually from Japan and abroad.

Initially, most of the "OriHime Pilots" were individuals with ALS, other intractable diseases, or severe physical disabilities. However, in recent years, the cafe has employed about 100 members with a wide range of backgrounds who could not be employed in traditional ways due to various circumstances, including mental health conditions, cancer survivorship, and family caregiving.

The increasing number of inquiries from companies seeking more substantial disability employment and local governments struggling with the employment of severely disabled individuals has also been a driving force. Many OriHime Pilots who have regained confidence in working through their employment at the Avatar Robot Cafe have "graduated" to external organizations. In fact, over the five years since the Nihonbashi main store opened, OriHime has been introduced to businesses, local governments, and educational institutions over 800 times, demonstrating that the new path of "remote social participation using avatar robots" is steadily taking root.

Meanwhile, activities targeting the next generation are also expanding to change the environment surrounding children with physical disabilities. Programs such as "OriHime Internship," a remote work experience program for special needs schools, and "Remote Sports Competitions" for individuals with physical disabilities are conducted with the cooperation of sponsoring companies. We present "ways to meet others and gain a role in society, even if one's body cannot be transported to the location" to children who will lead the next generation and their stakeholders.

◯ Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN Official Website https://dawn2021.orylab.com/

[About OriHime Laboratory] With the philosophy of "resolving human loneliness," OriHime Laboratory researches, develops, and provides services that enrich the options for "people with mobility challenges" who find it difficult to go out due to reasons such as disability, illness, nursing care, or childcare.

Services Offered:

The avatar robot "OriHime," which shares a "sense of presence" as if being there, despite being remotely operated.

The avatar robot "OriHime-D," which enables physical social participation through telework.

The communication device "OriHime eye+Switch," which enables communication with only slight movements of the eyes or fingertips, even for individuals with severe disabilities.

"Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β," where individuals with mobility challenges operate the avatar robots OriHime and OriHime-D remotely as "pilots" to perform customer service tasks such as taking orders, serving food, and conversing with customers.

For details, please visit the official website of OriHime Laboratory Inc. https://orylab.com/

*"OriHime," "OriHime-D," "OriHime eye+Switch," and "Avatar Robot Cafe" are registered trademarks of OriHime Laboratory Inc.

[Building Outline]

Building Name: Yokohama Building

Address: 3-9-4 Kaigan-dori, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture (lot number)

Building Exterior

Building Features

This new hub, scheduled for completion in January 2027 on the site of the former Yokohama Building in the Kaigan-dori district of Naka-ku, Yokohama City, aims to revitalize the entire Yokohama central and waterfront area. The planned site is a junction point between the Kannai district and Minatomirai 21 district, located a 4-minute walk from Bashamichi Station on the Minatomirai Line of the Yokohama Minatomirai Railway. The area is expected to see a further increase in visitors, with the completion of the Yokohama District Legal Affairs Bureau and the Yokohama City Hall in the adjacent North Nakadori South district, and the Yokohama Port Joint Government Office in the Shinko district.

It will contribute to the urban regeneration of Yokohama's entire waterfront by forming a landscape that harmonizes with the historic building "Yokohama Yusen Building," concentrating office and commercial facilities, and developing a promenade including waterfront spaces to improve street connectivity.

Access

4-minute walk from Bashamichi Station on the Minatomirai Line

8-minute walk from Kannai Station on the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line

11-minute walk from Kannai Station on JR lines