Full Breakdown
Therapeutic Bus Stops Help Dementia Patients in Toyohashi
By Drooid · · How we work
Concept and Implementation
In Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, nonprofit leader Tomoka Sugino installed a retired bus-stop sign in front of the Anki Cafe in 2021, creating a “mock” bus stop where people with dementia can sit, wait, and be gently redirected when they become restless. The structure includes a timetable and a waiting room, though no buses ever arrive. The goal is to give wandering patients a familiar, calming focal point and to reduce the risk of them becoming lost.
Origins and Expansion
The idea derives from a German initiative that uses simulated bus stops as therapeutic spaces for dementia care. After Sugino’s pilot gained community attention, the local transit operator Toyohashi Rail Road began supplying retired bus-stop signs to other facilities. To date the company has provided signs to 15 nursing-care homes and group homes in the area.
Key Participants
- Tomoka Sugino – 56-year-old head of the nonprofit Pokapoka no Mori and operator of the Anki Cafe.
- Toyohashi Rail Road – Public transportation provider that donates the signs and supports the program.
- Keiko Akagawa – Official of Toyohashi Rail Road, who describes the project’s benefits for patients and caregivers.
- Hiromi Nishiguchi – Manager of the Aichi no Mori group home, which installed a mock bus stop and bench in June.
Impact and Usage
Facility staff report that the mock stops provide a symbolic “waiting” experience that calms residents. At Aichi no Mori, about ten people use the bench each day, some returning up to three times. When staff tell them that no bus will arrive, many patients return to their rooms, indicating that the illusion helps redirect wandering behavior. Toyohashi Rail Road notes that caregivers have expressed gratitude, saying the approach acknowledges patients’ feelings and eases caretaker burden.
Verbatim Quotes
- “The initiative provides care for people with dementia and reduces the burden of caretakers,” — Keiko Akagawa, an official of Toyohashi Rail Road
- “They go back to their room when we tell them ’Let’s go back since a bus isn’t coming,’” — Rail Road. Hiromi Nishiguchi, the manager at the group home