Neighbors said, “You’ll be cursed… The President of a Special Cleaning Company Reveals His Thoughts on Turning an Accidental Property into a Children’s Diner

Remodeling the site of a robbery-homicide

The sushi was delicious!

The lively voices of children echoed through the downtown area of Ikuno Ward, Osaka City.

On January 31, the opening event of the children’s cafeteria “Kankuri Kids Kitchen” was held. On the day of the event, 500 pieces of sushi were served free of charge to the children with the cooperation of “Sushiba Fuji,” a high-end restaurant in Kitashinchi, Osaka City. Joe from the popular YouTuber “Joe Blog” with 2.4 million subscribers came to support the event and was happy to take commemorative photos, and a hands-on sushi making class was held.

The “Kankuri Kids Kitchen” is operated by Kansai Clean Service, a special cleaning company in Osaka City. There was a reason for holding a big event on the occasion of the opening.

In December 2009, a man broke into a house in Osaka City and beat a resident, then 82, to death. The man was robbed of cash and precious metals. The site of this horrific incident became “Kankuri Kids Kitchen. It is what is called an “accident property.

An accidental property turned into a children’s cafeteria. Behind this unprecedented challenge lies the strong determination of Noriyuki Kamezawa, 45, president of Kansai Clean Service, who has seen many lonely deaths and crime scenes. (The following statements by President Kamezawa are in parentheses, with the speaker’s name omitted.)

In 2010, one year after the incident, we received a request for a job, saying, ‘We would like you to organize the belongings of the deceased and do special cleaning. When I was shown to the site, he confided, ‘Actually, this is an accident property. It was a murder. The case had not yet been solved, and the blood stains were still fresh.

In addition to cleaning up the property, the bereaved family hoped to sell it, but the reality was grim. An Internet search for “Ikuno-ku, Ikuno Ward, robbery-homicide” will instantly display details of the case and even the exterior of the building. It is the curse of the “digital tattoo.

The bereaved family asked four real estate agents for an estimate of the sale of the property, but none of them would even give them a written estimate, saying, ‘We can’t handle it because too much information is left on the Internet.

In the midst of this situation, President Kamezawa’s company was the only one who raised his hand to purchase the property. President Kamezawa offered one condition.

We can’t hide the incident. On the contrary, I told them that we would notify them of everything and make use of the property.

Although the purchase of the property was a good thing, how to utilize it afterward was a difficult problem. We planned to use the property as a guest house, taking advantage of its location near the Korean Town, but the building is 45 years old, so it would take a huge amount of money to comply with the Fire Prevention Law and other regulations. Ultimately, it was decided to fully renovate the second and third floors for residential use, and rent out part of the first floor as a warehouse. The main space on the first floor, which was once used as a store, remained undecided as to its use.

We agonized for several years over what to do with the first floor,” said Mr. Kato, “It is too far from the station for a restaurant, and above all, the incident has not disappeared from people’s memories.

After deciding that the property had no asset value, President Kamezawa came up with the idea of increasing its “social value.

I thought it should be used to contribute to the community and society. If we could develop the property into a place that brings smiles to children’s faces, even if we couldn’t erase the past, we could rewrite people’s memories and images of the property.”

Barriers that stand in the way

The first step toward this goal was the opening event described at the beginning of this article. In addition to Joe, a YouTuber and goodwill ambassador from Ikuno Ward, the mayor of Ikuno Ward also participated in the event.

I would be happy if this event could be a place where children and mothers could connect with each other,” said Joe. I think that childhood memories stay with us even after we grow up. Especially when it comes to expensive sushi. When I was a child, I didn’t get to eat expensive sushi that many times.

This is a challenge for revitalization that cannot be measured by the conventional wisdom of real estate investment. A thick and high wall of reality stood in front of them. The first thing they faced was the cold reaction of financial institutions.

No matter how beautifully we renovated the property after buying it, the bank would not give us a loan. This is because they cannot calculate the property value when it is the site of a murder case.

When renovating and selling a property, most buyers take out a loan, but if the property is an accidental property, they cannot find its value as a mortgage and cannot get a loan.

According to President Kamezawa, the price of a lonely death site can be as low as 80% of the market value, and for a suicide, the price can be half of the market value. If it is the site of a robbery and murder, the value plummets even further.

For the bereaved families, their relatives have been killed and the property’s asset value has also been taken away from them. This is also a reality of the case.

Kansai Clean Service has invested its own funds in the project without regard to profitability. From a business standpoint, it is not worth it. What motivates President Kamezawa is the sense of crisis he has experienced in the field of special cleaning.

When the company first purchased the property, it was the eyes of the neighbors that bothered it. When he visited the site for renovation, he was often approached by elderly people passing by.

They would say, “Brother, are you the builder who bought this place? They would say harsh words such as, “How dare you buy this place, you’ll be cursed. It’s downtown Ikuno, so there were terrible rumors going around. ……

One thing that puzzled President Kamezawa was the “offerings” placed at the entrance on the anniversary of the monthly death of his wife. We don’t know who puts them there. Perhaps it is an acquaintance of the victim or someone who took care of him or her. Bouquets of flowers, sweets, food, and drink were placed there every month.

It went on for two years, maybe almost three. I know painfully that they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. But as a new owner, it seems to me that they are forever appealing to me, saying, ‘This is a murder scene. …… I couldn’t put up a sign, and I was worried about whether I could dispose of the property without permission, so my staff and I had a hard time saying, ‘We can’t ask them to leave it here, can we?

The revitalization of a damaged property means not only repairing the building, but also continuing to deal with the “memories” and “feelings” that remain in the community. What concerns me most at the moment is the fundamental issue in the operation of the children’s cafeteria.

How can we prevent isolation?

We talked with people from the city office and the Council of Social Welfare, but the more children and parents from families that really need support, the less likely they are to come to the children’s cafeteria,” Joe said.

They don’t want to be thought of as a poor family, they are afraid of being gossiped about in the neighborhood, or they might be bullied… These fears and pride act as barriers, preventing support from reaching families that truly need it.

On the other hand, we hear of parents from middle-class and upper-middle-class families who leave their children at home “because it’s free,” while they themselves go out for tea with their mothers’ friends or, in the worst cases, spend their time having an affair.

In the worst cases, they spend their time having affairs. They won’t come in unless we actively talk to them and invite them. We need to take steps to prevent social isolation.”

Local governments do not have a clear answer to this problem. President Kamezawa operates the children’s cafeteria because he thought he might be able to find a clue that would open a door.

Social isolation does not just happen one day. Social isolation doesn’t just happen one day,” he said. “Divorce, debt, job loss, or some other trigger gradually leads to isolation. Finally, the person dies without anyone knowing about it. I have seen such scenes all my life.

I work with local government officials and community welfare volunteers to look after the elderly, but the people I look after are aging and it is very difficult for them. When I actually go out to look after them, many of them are stubborn and complain, saying, ‘I don’t need you to look after me,’ or ‘I don’t want to be taken care of by you people. It’s what we call refusal to look after them.

We wondered if there was any way to stop them before they became isolated. This is when he came up with the idea of a place where neighbors could “get in touch with each other.

If you create a place for children to gather, like a children’s cafeteria, adults will naturally gather as well. Many parents came today, and through this opportunity, they can get to know each other. When the children who came in and out of the cafeteria become adults, they will remember that they had a place like that when they were children. I think children’s cafeterias are necessary to prevent the isolation of each individual.

What is important is to provide a safety net before isolation sets in. If a community is created where adults can see and care for children, isolation may be prevented.

The property value may be close to zero, but if this place becomes a necessary part of the community, its social value will be immeasurable.

The place where a horrific incident once took place is beginning to mark a new moment as a “safety net for life” that keeps people in the community together.