Regional
From Classroom to Community: A Student-Informed Blood Donation Café in Japan
Tomohiko Sato
The Jikei University Hospital, Japan
Noriko Namba
Japanese Red Cross Tokyo Metropolitan Red Cross Blood Center, Japan
Akinori Hanai
Japanese Red Cross Tokyo Metropolitan Red Cross Blood Center, Japan
Shigeyoshi Makino
Japanese Red Cross Tokyo Metropolitan Red Cross Blood Center, Japan
Many countries are facing the same difficult question: how can blood services build lasting connections with younger generations? Ensuring a stable and safe blood supply remains a global challenge, and in Japan this issue has become increasingly urgent as the population ages and the donor base changes over time.[1,2]
Motivational approaches and reminder-based interventions can improve blood donation behavior,[3] but long-term sustainability also depends on familiarity, trust, and repeated contact with the donation environment. For younger people, the first encounter with a blood donation room may matter as much as the donation message itself.
Listening to student voices
In Tokyo, the Japanese Red Cross Society has collaborated with universities to provide medical students with learning opportunities related to transfusion medicine and blood donation.[4] In 2024, this practicum was redesigned from a mainly observation-based format into a more participatory experience.[5]
Instead of only watching, students were encouraged to engage directly with the blood donation setting. Depending on the situation, they could donate blood themselves or take part in donor recruitment activities. This redesign appears to have changed the educational atmosphere considerably. In the ISBT 2025 abstract reporting this practicum, attendance was 92%, 45% of attendees donated blood, and many of those who donated were first-time donors.[5]
Just as importantly, students were asked how more young people might be encouraged to engage with blood donation. Their responses were not limited to publicity or incentives. Many comments focused on the environment itself: the importance of making donation rooms feel more approachable, comfortable, and compatible with student life.[5]
From practicum insight to service innovation (Figure 1)
This was the turning point. Rather than treating student feedback as a routine educational survey, staff members at the blood center reviewed the suggestions as potentially actionable ideas. In the ISBT 2025 analysis, student proposals were grouped into themes including awareness, education, incentives, and collection environment, and several ideas were identified by JRCS staff as feasible new measures.[5]
One concept proved especially promising: opening part of a donation room as a low-pressure study and rest space for students, including those who were not yet ready to donate blood. In this sense, the project was not simply a public-relations effort. It was a form of service innovation informed by educational reform, supported by university–blood center collaboration.[4,5]
Figure 1. From participatory practicum to Student Café implementation.
A Student Café in Tachikawa (Figure 2)
The Tachikawa initiative began in February 2025 under the name Student Café. A section of the blood donation room was opened to high school and university students, allowing them to use the space for study or rest even if they were not planning to donate blood.
This point was important. The aim was not to pressure visitors into donation, but to create a first point of contact with the donation environment. Existing furniture was reused to create a study-friendly space, and clear signage was placed at the entrance so that students could understand how to use the area even before entering the room. Additional informational materials were prepared to reduce anxiety and explain the concept in an accessible way. The project was developed mainly by younger staff members at the blood center, helping the design remain close to the perspective of the intended users (Figure 3).
Outreach was also designed with students in mind. Information about the café was shared through student volunteer networks and social media, while in-room notices helped make the initiative visible to current donors as well.
Figure 2. Photographs of the Tachikawa Student Café.
Figure 3. Key design elements of the Student Café.
What we observed
During the first eight months, the Student Café recorded 196 visits, averaging 28 users per month. Among survey respondents, 54% had never donated blood before. All respondents described the space as comfortable, and 43% had used it more than once.
These early results do not prove an immediate increase in blood donation, nor was that the primary goal. Instead, they suggest that a low-barrier environment can create repeated contact with young people who may otherwise never enter a donation room. That kind of contact may be especially valuable in settings where long-term donor development matters as much as short-term recruitment.
Why this matters beyond one blood donation room
What makes this initiative especially interesting is not only the café itself, but the process behind it. Educational feedback was not left in the classroom. It moved outward into real service design.
This case highlights the value of university–blood center collaboration. Participatory learning gave students a more active role, and their ideas were then refined through operational discussion among blood service professionals.[5] That process helped build consensus around a model that was both youth-friendly and realistic to implement.
For readers across Asia and beyond, the lesson may be a simple one. Recruitment challenges differ across settings, but many blood services are asking similar questions about how to engage younger generations.[1] Not every solution requires a major campaign or large new investment. Sometimes, a practical step forward begins with listening carefully to students and creating spaces where participation feels natural.
Looking ahead
The Tachikawa Student Café is a local initiative, but it points toward a broader possibility. Blood donation education does not have to end with knowledge acquisition. When students are treated as partners in thinking about the future of blood services, their experiences can inform real-world change.
In that sense, the path from classroom to community may be shorter than we think.
References
1. WHO. Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability 2021. 2022.
2.Japanese Red Cross Society. Blood Services 2024. 2024.
3.Godin G, Vézina-Im LA, Bélanger-Gravel A, Amireault S. Efficacy of interventions promoting blood donation: a systematic review. Transf Med Rev. 2012;26:224–237.e6.
4. Kageyama Y, Hosoba R, Yoshizawa S, Furukawa Y, Furuya M, Tokuda K et al. Analysis of medical students’ learning regarding blood donation in small-group blood transfusion practicum—Significance of blood donation education practice through university-blood center collaboration. Jpn J Transfus Cell Ther. 2026;72(1):55–65.
5. Sato T, Namba N, Matsushita M, Fujishiro N, Hanai A, Watanabe-Okochi N, et al. Enhancing medical student engagement in voluntary blood donation: impact of a participatory blood center visiting practicum approach in Tokyo. ISBT Congress 2025. Abstract ISBT ABS25-374.
