TOKYO >> Amid the small and fashionable shops in Kuramae in Tokyo’s Taito ward, there is a unique space where visitors can spend a moment to take perspective: They can send a letter to their future selves.

The store is called Jiyucho, which means “open notebook.” There, Ai Toda, who runs a travel company in Osaka prefecture, was writing a letter in mid-May with a serious expression on her face.

It was shortly before her 40th birthday.

“I’ve been frantically rushing through my life, so I wanted to look back on it,” she said, perusing the letter pad copiously filled with her handwriting. “I think reading this letter will (inspire me) to keep going in my 40s, too.”

Jiyucho was opened in August 2019 by poet Shohei Koyama, 32, who created a place to encourage visitors to candidly face their feelings. The concept for the shop came to Koyama after he struggled with a business he started after graduating from college. He was worried about the situation but found encouragement in his own words, written in the past.

In December, Koyama opened a second store, a cafe he named Futo (envelope). The letters are sealed with a wax stamp and kept at Futo until they are sent to a designated address one year later.

About 10,000 letters are currently being stored. The number of letters entrusted to Jiyucho by non-Japanese tourists has been growing as well.

“Even your worries may look trivial from the eyes of yourself in the future,” Koyama said. “I hope I’ll be able to cheer up people even a little through doing this.”