The closure of DONGREE, where one could enjoy coffee from five Kyoto roasters in the neighborhood of Rokuharamitsuji Temple, brought a further sense of loss to Kyoto, which has been sinking in the wake of the Corona disaster. However, DONGREE is now operating as a new book café in the neighboring city of Konan, Shiga Prefecture. I started the store because I wanted to create a place to deal with handicrafts," he says. Here, the roaster's coffee was one of the handiworks," says Dongree, the owner of the store.

The main ingredient is cassava potatoes, the staple food of the Brazilian people who live mostly in Hunan City. Almost no meat or fish is used. Hunan Lunch plate of seasonal ingredients and cassava potatoes 1180 yen

He decided to move to Konan City under the Regional Development Cooperation Volunteer Program, with the condition that he would "enliven the town with a book café. Although the Corona disaster encouraged him to relocate, he felt that he could not balance running a business and doing manual labor in the expensive city. My ultimate goal is to build a village where people can live without depending on money. To achieve this, it is important to have people who can make what they need with their own hands. With this in mind, I launched Dongree as a place where people who do handicrafts can play an active role. However, running a business in a city is expensive. And the price per product is also high. To make a living just by making things, conditions in cities are tough."

The move to Shiga was also to expand opportunities to connect makers and buyers. Currently, the lunch using local vegetables from the suburbs of Konan City is very popular, and reservations are required in order to avoid congestion. The new approach has also helped to reduce food loss and staff labor," he says.

Mr. Dolly.
Born in Osaka Prefecture. Graduated from Saga University of Arts, and began to think about "what is true wealth" while working in various occupations. Started her own business in Kyoto in 2015.