Food, Conversation, and Everyday Sharing: Shiori at Organic in Kobe (Part 1)

Hello.
I’m Inoji from Kobe Share House WARAI.

Shiori moved from her family home to Organic in Tarumi. Drawing on her experience of living alone and sharing a home overseas, she talks about spontaneous conversations, cooking for housemates, and the warmth created by everyday acts of sharing.

Read the Japanese version

Watch the full interview

This article has been edited for clarity while preserving the meaning of the original interview.

Shiori’s Life at Organic in Tarumi

Working with Children and Living at Organic

Shiori Kato is from Miki City in Hyogo. She works as a classroom support assistant at an elementary school, spending the day with children who attend special-needs classes. At the time of the interview, she lived at Organic with nine other people, including a baby.

Residents have different schedules, so she does not see everyone every day. When their meal times overlap, however, dinner naturally turns into a long conversation—and that unplanned time is something she loves.

Someone Always Seems to Appear

Sometimes Shiori goes to the living room simply because she feels like talking. Before long, someone walks in. A quick cup of tea can become an evening of conversation, even when nobody planned it.

Food also moves naturally through the house. Residents share vegetables, snacks, and freshly laid eggs from the chickens on the common shelf.

The Joy of Cooking for Other People

Shiori enjoys turning shared ingredients into meals. It makes her genuinely happy when housemates eat what she has cooked and tell her it tastes good. A fresh egg over rice can become a memorable breakfast because it came from the life everyone shares.

At Organic, family roles are not fixed. A housemate cooking for you feels generous precisely because it is a choice.

Creativity That Comes from Living Together

Shiori also bakes sweets. When she needed a flyer, a housemate who loves drawing made one for her. It reflected how closely the artist had watched Shiori and understood what she cared about. For Shiori, that warmth could only have come from living together.

Interviewed by Kuboken, a resident of Arch.

Continue to Part 2: why shared living can feel easier than living alone

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