A Safe Space for Youth Under Social Care to Drop By: 'Connection Tea Party' Starts April 23 | NPO Tenonagai Ojisan Project
The NPO 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project' will start a monthly 'Connection Tea Party' on April 23. It provides a free, reservation-less safe space for youth with social care backgrounds to build gentle relationships and prevent isolation after leaving care.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 22:50
- 🔍 Collected: April 15, 2026 at 14:31
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The NPO 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project', which supports children and young people raised under social care such as children's homes and foster families, will start a monthly 'Connection Tea Party' from Thursday, April 23, 2026.
This initiative focuses on the 'connections' that tend to be severed after young people leave care, creating a place where middle and high school students living under social care and young people who have experienced social care can drop by with peace of mind.
About the 'Connection Tea Party'
The 'Connection Tea Party' is a small exchange space where people can casually talk about recent events or minor worries while gathering over tea and snacks.
There are days when you might want to talk, and days when you just want to listen to someone else. It's okay to stay exactly as you are on days you want to spend quietly.
Sometimes we enjoy making things, spending time gently while moving our hands.
You are welcome to just drop by and spend time without speaking.
Valuing the time spent at one's own pace, we aim to be a place to take a breather, where one can suddenly drop by even after leaving care.
16:00-19:00 | Held on the 4th Thursday of every month (Ebisu, Shibuya-ku) | Free participation | No reservation required, free to come and go | Staff permanently stationed
Connection Tea Party
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
■ Background to the Event: 'Connections' that Easily Break After Leaving Care
Many children raised under social care leave facilities and foster homes at the age of 18 and proceed on their respective paths.
However, along with changes in their living environment, connections with people tend to break, and there are many cases where they hold onto work and life worries all by themselves.
At the 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project', we have been accompanying them at the timing of their departure through the 'Tableware and Clothes Handover Event', but we strongly felt the need for support that continues beyond that.
Therefore, we launched this 'Connection Tea Party' as a place where they can interact without strain within the extension of daily life.
■ A Place to Build 'Relationships', Not 'Support'
In this initiative, we emphasize that people gathering in the same place connect gently, rather than having a relationship of supporting/being supported.
While accumulating experiences of interacting with people in a safe space once a month, we aim to gently nurture changes such as:
- Gradually changing how one faces relationships with people.
- Becoming able to face anxieties by consulting someone instead of holding them in alone.
- Organizing difficulties and proactively trying to connect with necessary support and systems.
Connection Tea Party
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
Event Outline
Name | Connection Tea Party
Date & Time | Thursday, April 23, 2026, 16:00-19:00
Thereafter, held on the 4th Thursday of every month
Venue | Kageoka no Ie 1st Floor Salon (4-5-15 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
Target | Middle and high school students living in children's homes or foster families, and youth with experience in social care
Participation Fee | Free
Application | No reservation required, free to come and go
Organizer | Specified Non-Profit Corporation Tenonagai Ojisan Project
Future Developments
At the 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project', including the 'Connection Tea Party', we grasp living, experiences, and relationships with people as one continuous support, and are deploying the following 5 projects.
- Tableware and Clothes Handover Event
Time spent choosing tableware and clothes, staying close to youth facing their departure.
- Self-Opening Class (Scheduled to start in September 2026)
A 6-month continuous lecture series to encounter diverse ways of living and envision the future.
- Connection Tea Party
A monthly safe space to connect with people with peace of mind.
- Future Discovery Program (Scheduled to start in 2027)
A program to explore one's own way of working by visiting workplaces.
- Gaze Lab
Research activities to consider future support based on the voices of children and youth.
List of Initiative Projects
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
We will continue initiatives that open up encounters and connections so that children and young people can design their own lives.
■ Request for Support
The 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project' is extending 'hands' little by little as what each person can do...
This initiative focuses on the 'connections' that tend to be severed after young people leave care, creating a place where middle and high school students living under social care and young people who have experienced social care can drop by with peace of mind.
About the 'Connection Tea Party'
The 'Connection Tea Party' is a small exchange space where people can casually talk about recent events or minor worries while gathering over tea and snacks.
There are days when you might want to talk, and days when you just want to listen to someone else. It's okay to stay exactly as you are on days you want to spend quietly.
Sometimes we enjoy making things, spending time gently while moving our hands.
You are welcome to just drop by and spend time without speaking.
Valuing the time spent at one's own pace, we aim to be a place to take a breather, where one can suddenly drop by even after leaving care.
16:00-19:00 | Held on the 4th Thursday of every month (Ebisu, Shibuya-ku) | Free participation | No reservation required, free to come and go | Staff permanently stationed
Connection Tea Party
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
■ Background to the Event: 'Connections' that Easily Break After Leaving Care
Many children raised under social care leave facilities and foster homes at the age of 18 and proceed on their respective paths.
However, along with changes in their living environment, connections with people tend to break, and there are many cases where they hold onto work and life worries all by themselves.
At the 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project', we have been accompanying them at the timing of their departure through the 'Tableware and Clothes Handover Event', but we strongly felt the need for support that continues beyond that.
Therefore, we launched this 'Connection Tea Party' as a place where they can interact without strain within the extension of daily life.
■ A Place to Build 'Relationships', Not 'Support'
In this initiative, we emphasize that people gathering in the same place connect gently, rather than having a relationship of supporting/being supported.
While accumulating experiences of interacting with people in a safe space once a month, we aim to gently nurture changes such as:
- Gradually changing how one faces relationships with people.
- Becoming able to face anxieties by consulting someone instead of holding them in alone.
- Organizing difficulties and proactively trying to connect with necessary support and systems.
Connection Tea Party
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
Event Outline
Name | Connection Tea Party
Date & Time | Thursday, April 23, 2026, 16:00-19:00
Thereafter, held on the 4th Thursday of every month
Venue | Kageoka no Ie 1st Floor Salon (4-5-15 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
Target | Middle and high school students living in children's homes or foster families, and youth with experience in social care
Participation Fee | Free
Application | No reservation required, free to come and go
Organizer | Specified Non-Profit Corporation Tenonagai Ojisan Project
Future Developments
At the 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project', including the 'Connection Tea Party', we grasp living, experiences, and relationships with people as one continuous support, and are deploying the following 5 projects.
- Tableware and Clothes Handover Event
Time spent choosing tableware and clothes, staying close to youth facing their departure.
- Self-Opening Class (Scheduled to start in September 2026)
A 6-month continuous lecture series to encounter diverse ways of living and envision the future.
- Connection Tea Party
A monthly safe space to connect with people with peace of mind.
- Future Discovery Program (Scheduled to start in 2027)
A program to explore one's own way of working by visiting workplaces.
- Gaze Lab
Research activities to consider future support based on the voices of children and youth.
List of Initiative Projects
Tenonagai Ojisan Project Website
We will continue initiatives that open up encounters and connections so that children and young people can design their own lives.
■ Request for Support
The 'Tenonagai Ojisan Project' is extending 'hands' little by little as what each person can do...