Elderly Workers in Kamagasaki, Osaka, Sell Craft Beer with Great Success! A Miraculous True Story

Kamagasaki (Airin area) in Nishinari-ku, Osaka City, was once famous as a town for day laborers.

We saw in Part 1: Background of Kamagasaki, Osaka “becoming the frontline of care and employment support for LGBTQ elderly” that this town has now become a frontline for the care of LGBTQ elderly people. In the second part, I would like to continue to introduce the field of employment support for the elderly from my book “Mukonenronen” (The Unmarried Elderly).

Some liquor stores in Nishinari Ward sell what is commonly known as “riot beer (Nishinari Riot Ale). This is a new business that has been attracting attention as an employment support project for the elderly people with disabilities in Kamagasaki.

Many people may have an image of “riot” when they think of Kamagasaki. At its peak, Kamagasaki was home to an estimated 20,000 workers. They were engaged in hard physical labor, being paid by the arrangers, and feeling resentful.

In the 1960s and 1970s, such stress exploded in the form of riots. These riots, known as the “Nishinari Riots,” are said to have occurred at least twenty times.

However, long ago, such a crowd of spirited workers was a thing of the past. Now they are elderly, on welfare, or homeless, and living a hard life in their old age.

We must keep trying!”

It was in 2008 that “cyclo,” a company involved in the nursing care business, was born in such a town.

The company’s president, Masanori Yamazaki, was originally an employee of a nursing care company. When that company went bankrupt, Mr. Yamazaki, who was working as an area manager for the Nishinari Ward and other areas, launched cyclo. One of its businesses was to provide employment support for the handicapped.

However, it was not easy to operate a business in this area. Many of the disabled people had problems such as methamphetamine addiction, alcoholism, and schizophrenia. At first, we provided employment support by opening cafes and holding bazaars, but it did not go well.

At one point, a man with a mild intellectual disability said, “I used to live around here.

I used to make sake around here. I used to make good sake here. People in Nishinari drink in the morning. This is a town of sake. If you make sake, I’ll sell as much as I can. You must do your best!

Yamazaki purchased 500 bottles of beer from a company in another prefecture on an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) basis, put a new label on the beer, and began selling it to about 15 people living in Nishinari.

In just one and a half days, the 800 yen per bottle beer was sold out. Because they drink every day, they have a variety of connections to liquor stores. They took advantage of this.

They said in unison, “Boss, we can sell as much liquor as we want.

Boss, I can sell you any amount of liquor you want!

After that, Mr. Yamazaki purchased 500 bottles of beer from the OEM on four occasions, all of which sold out in one day. The daily wages earned by those who sold them amounted to 30,000 yen.

From this experience, Mr. Yamazaki believed that “the old men of Nishinari could be a great asset in the sale of alcohol. He obtained a loan from a bank and opened a brewery in Nishinari Ward in 2006.

He says, “The old men in this area are all very friendly.

The old men in this area all love sake and take pride in making money from it. That’s why they really enjoy brewing and selling sake, and getting paid for it gives them confidence. I have heard many people say that their lives have changed as a result of being involved in this business.

Let us introduce a person whose life has been changed by this business. He is Hayato Toyama (pseudonym, in his 60s).

Originally, Toyama lived in Kamagasaki for many years as a manual laborer. However, after getting married, he became unable to work due to a physical breakdown, and since he could no longer make ends meet even on welfare, he became a methamphetamine trafficker. There were many gang members in the area, and he would ask them to supply him with methamphetamine, which he would then traffick in teams of three (a guard, a dealer, and a trafficker on the run).

The gangs would then work in teams of three (a guard, a dealer, and a trafficker on the run) to distribute the drugs.

The trafficking business brought in a good amount of money, but he was worried that he might be arrested at any moment. He had a wife and children, and if he were arrested, his family would be on the street. However, he could not get another job now.

One day, one of his friends said he was going to get out of the business. He said that a company called Ciclo was in the business of selling craft beer and that he would be allowed to work there.

Hearing this, Toyama decided that he too wanted to work for Ciclo. When he talked to his wife about it, she happened to know about cyclos from the news.

She said, “Why don’t you work as a cyclo?　You can work there even if your income is reduced.

Toyama went to the gang’s office, told them why he was there, paid them tens of thousands of yen, and was allowed to leave the group. He then began working at a cyclo.

Today, Toyama is working diligently in the craft beer business and supporting his wife and children with his earnings.

Yamazaki says, “I realized that I had started a craft beer business.

What I realized after starting the craft beer business is the importance of doing what the users want to do and what they used to do. Most of the users who come to us are people who became disabled midway through their lives due to alcohol or drugs, rather than people with congenital disabilities. In other words, they worked hard when they were young. That is why they feel guilty about not being able to do so anymore, or they have become emotionally disturbed.

If that is the case, I would like them to regain their pride in living independently in society by properly doing what they want to do and what they have done. Then, no matter how old they get, they will be able to look forward to their lives.

The people who live in Kamagasaki have their own lives to lead. What is important is to respect their lives and how they relate to society. This is what makes employment support truly meaningful.

Cyclo’s craft beer business made waves in 2018 when it won a silver award at the International Beer Cup.

It now sells a variety of craft beers, including the aforementioned Riot Beer. The people who sell them are the people who live in Xicheng.