Ayaka Hirahara Jupiter Fund Donates 4,007,403 Yen in Proceeds from Its 11th Charity Concert to Musubie

Musubie, officially the National Children’s Cafeteria Support Center Musubie, a certified NPO based in Shibuya, Tokyo and led by Chairperson Rie Mishima, announced that it has received a donation of 4,007,403 yen from the proceeds of the 11th Ayaka Hirahara Jupiter Fund My Best Friends Concert: Ganbare Children with Orchestra. The Ayaka Hirahara Jupiter Fund was established to support children around the world. The charity concert, now in its 11th edition since the fund was launched in 2015, featured the Senzoku Gakuen New Philharmonic Orchestra, Hirahara’s alma mater orchestra, conducted by Toshiyuki Watanabe, with musical actor Yoshio Inoue appearing as a guest. During the MC segment, Musubie’s activities were introduced, and Hirahara herself asked questions such as whether adults can also visit children’s cafeterias and what kinds of meals are served. Chairperson Rie Mishima and others explained that many children’s cafeterias across Japan function as community hubs and serve meals using local vegetables and other regional ingredients. Musubie said it will carefully use this support, which was offered with the wish to help people in need at the time rather than donating to one fixed place. To realize its vision of creating a society where no one is left behind through support for children’s cafeterias, Musubie will further expand the nationwide network of children’s cafeterias. Ayaka Hirahara commented that in the 11th year since launching the fund, she was finally able to donate to children’s cafeterias, a cause she had long hoped to support. Influenced by her mother, she had understood the importance of meals since childhood, and after becoming a singer she came to feel that importance even more strongly. She said healthy meals are the first step toward achieving dreams, and expressed her hope that everyone can eat food filled with love, find a place where they can gather safely, and fulfill their own dreams. She added that she is sincerely happy to support Musubie’s goal of a society where no one is left behind, and delivered encouragement on behalf of the many audience members who supported the charity concert. Rie Mishima expressed deep gratitude for the major support from the Ayaka Hirahara Jupiter Fund. She said Hirahara’s straightforward question on stage about whether adults can also go to children’s cafeterias provided a valuable opportunity for many people to learn that, while centered on children, children’s cafeterias are community places where anyone of any age can gather with peace of mind. Mishima also said that seeing fans nodding as they listened made her feel from the stage how carefully the fund’s activities had been built up together with its supporters over many years. Musubie will use the donation entrusted with everyone’s goodwill to further strengthen the nationwide circle of children’s cafeterias. Children’s cafeterias are free or low-cost dining spaces where children can come safely even on their own, regardless of whether they are called community cafeterias, everyone’s homes, or by other names. They are operated voluntarily in local communities, often by volunteers, and serve as places for everyone where people of many generations, centered on children, connect through food. They also contribute to local vitality, a sense of purpose for older adults, and improvement of issues such as loneliness, isolation, and poverty. Although they do not have a formal institutional basis, the number of locations has been confirmed at 12,602 nationwide as of the finalized 2025 figure. The certified NPO National Children’s Cafeteria Support Center Musubie was established in December 2018 and obtained certified NPO status in May 2021. Led by Chairperson Rie Mishima, Musubie’s vision is to create a society where no one is left behind through support for children’s cafeterias. It works to create an environment where children’s cafeterias exist everywhere in Japan and become places anyone can visit with peace of mind, while enabling many people to participate in social activities that build the future through children’s cafeterias. Its activities include support for regional network organizations that assist local children’s cafeterias, collaborative support with companies and organizations seeking to contribute to society, surveys and research to clarify the actual state of children’s cafeterias, and awareness-raising based on these efforts. It also supports safe and secure operations at the local level. In fiscal 2024, Musubie provided approximately 690 million yen in grants to a cumulative total of 3,914 organizations and mediated in-kind support from companies and others to a cumulative total of 10,532 organizations, equivalent to about 470 million yen based on retail value.