The first Death Cafe at Hirosaki Gakuin University
A write up of HiroGaku Death Cafe
By Steven M
A Death Café was held in the learning commons on the evening on May 24th. 13 students, teachers, and community members gathered to talk about death while drinking tea and eating sweets. This was the first of a series of Death Café events which will be held throughout the coming years. It was a calm, relaxed place for people to come and talk openly about death.
Plans had been made to begin holding Death Cafés starting in 2020, but due to the global pandemic, it was delayed. This Death Café took place taking care to follow corona virus preventative measures.
This first café went well. Participants began the evening by introducing themselves and explanation their reason for joining the event. The participants were then asked a few questions to get them comfortable with the format, before the conversation moved on to topics that the participants wanted to discuss. The evening began with the participants being nervous about being open with their thoughts about death, but as they became more comfortable with the topic, the conversation became more natural and open.
At the end of the event participants filled out an evaluation form. The event was rated highly with few suggestions for improvement. Most participants said that they hope to be able to come to further events or bring their friends in the future. Many of the students who participated said that they hadn’t had much chance to think about death before, and Death Café gave them a good opportunity to do so.