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On one of the first days of January, residents of Tokyo's Itabashi Ward flocked to the "Kaname-cho Kodomo Shokudo," operated as an NPO supporting economically disadvantaged families.
Arriving a half hour before they began serving from 5:30 p.m., the reporter for Spa! (Jan 26) watched as volunteers prepared a menu of "osechi ryori" (traditional new year's dishes), and "ozoni," a savory broth containing glutinous rice cakes.
"Many parents can't get away from their work during the new year, and we do this for the many children unable to enjoy a real new year," says Kazuo Yamada, one of the volunteers operating the kitchen.
The diners at the event were not restricted to needy families.
"Doing that would make it less pleasant for some single-mother families to come, and we don't want to create social barriers," Yamada explains.
The charge for attendance at the celebratory feast was only 300 yen per person, but some of the especially disadvantaged were permitted to waive payment.
One such attendee, 29-year-old Kanako Kishida (a pseudonym, as are all the single mothers featured in the article) said she divorced her husband in Hokkaido three years ago, and decided to bring her son, 6, and daughter, 4, to Tokyo where jobs were relatively plentiful. She was grateful for the opportunity to take a break from her job and spend a few hours celebrating the new year with her children.
"I've been abandoned by both my husband and by my government," sighs Fumiko Shimada, 38. After fleeing from her violent husband, she now lives in a small apartment in Kawasaki with her two sons, aged 7 and 4. Unable to work due to depression brought on by her mistreatment, she survives on items from the nearby food bank. Her staple food is instant noodles priced at 135 yen per serving.
"To save on power, I normally don't turn on the lights at night, using candles instead. 'Today we're going to have a candle night,' I tell my boys. Then I spread out a blue plastic tarp on the floor and say, let's have a picnic!" The fare: a plastic lunch box with several "onigiri" (rice balls). The cheerfulness she feigns appears contagious, and her boys typically react saying "Tanoshii ne" (It's fun.)
Winter, when energy costs in the colder parts of Japan soar to double that of summer, might be the cruelest time of the year.
"If we don't skimp, the utility bills come to as much as 18,000 yen a month," says Yayoi Kawamura, 30, a single mother of two aged six and three years, who lives in Sapporo. "As I can't afford to pay that much, I avoid using the heat, to keep the bills below 10,000 a month."
Kawamura's income from employment comes to about 80,000 yen, in addition to which she receives two welfare subsidies, raising her total monthly income to 170,000 yen.
At home, she limits use of heat to just four hours per day.
Hearing her younger child's teeth chatter when he says, ”Mommy, I'm cold," makes her feel like a failure as a mother, she says. "I get pains in my chest."
There's nothing particularly rare about these cases of poverty in the midst of plenty. The ratio of relative poverty for children, according to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, rose from 14.2% in 2006 to 16.3% in 2012, the most recent year figures were announced.
Relative poverty is defined by OECD as a state at which the income of a household is at or below half of the median household income. Japan's 16.3% puts it just below the United States, which has a 17.3% poverty rating. But whereas the U.S. figures have gradually declined over the past three decades, Japan's have been rising.
Aside from broken families, another factor exacerbating child poverty owes its existence to the patently inflexible system of family registration. If you're excluded from the system, for whatever reason, you're effectively left on the windy side of the bakery window when it comes to eligibility for social services and other government assistance.
Masae Ido, a former member of the Diet House of Representatives and currently head of a Hyogo-based NPO campaigning for reform of the system, relates some of the causes.
"Due to abuse by a parent, the child's birth might not be reported," she says. "Or, maternity hospital bills might not have been paid due to lack of funds, leading the mother to avoid going to the hospital to receive the birth certificate.
Ido points out that unregistered adults who are raising children of their own have been reduced to desperate straits, thereby creating a vicious circle of poverty. “This is another reason for the urgent need to amend the present system,” she said.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
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Yubaru
Growing problem? Been around for a hell of a long time, people are just finally getting the scales shot off their eyes and being forced to acknowledge it's a problem everyone needs to help fix.
And and register themselves and their children and expect the city office to start banging on their doors for money. Registration laws here are outdated to say the least and if the government truly wants to help these single parents (mostly mothers) it needs to allow them to register their children as Japanese without all the hassles currently in place.
badsey3
There are many empty homes (that must be heated) that could be used for these people = a gov program or tax incentive could be put in place to assist this program.
warispeace
Who wrote this piece? Is there no editorial fact checking? A quick check on the web will show statistics that relative poverty in the US has been rising since 2000. Not only that, there has not been a steady decline but rather it declined from 1960 to 1970 but it has fluctuated since then until the rise over the past number of years.
Spanki
Here is your beautiful Japan Mr Abe, oh how these children will grow up to love you.....
nath
this is so sad. my heart and soul goes out to those mothers and their children. to see that statement, 'i have been abandoned by my husband and my government' makes my heart cringe. i need to hurry and become financially wealthy. i would help all of those women and children without making it seem like a handout. we get so stuck on the beautiful and cool aspects of Japan because that's what they always show to lure us in, but we seldom hear or focus on this side of Japan. help the women. helping the children. help the elderly. Japan is hurting and slowly deteriorating from the inside out.
Disillusioned
There are two sides to this story. The woman in the article states she was 'abandoned' by her husband. However, it is quite likely she gave him no access to the children at all after their divorce, which is very common in Japan. She also states her husband was violent, which may be true, or it may not be true, but it is the common excuse used by single mothers to stop the father having any access to his kids at all. Does she have records and police steve ts to back up these claims or is it just a convenient lie? She also stated she moved to Tokyo from Hokkaido for jobs. Is this really the case, or was she taking his kids as far away as she could? I'm sure that many of these cases are real, but sadly, many of them are just personal vendettas against the ex-husband to ensure he never sees his kids again. This is where the government and lack of joint custody and child support laws fail. Would you pay child support for children you are not allowed to see?
nath
There is nothing whatsoever to indicate that this is the case.
Utrack
The J Govt could provide Free School Books listed according to grade and curriculum.Bags and tablets too are needed for needy children. Something like this is done in Singapore. Food Banks are a good idea. Second Harvest Japan is one that I heard of. It is a good thing for supermarkets to give food to organizations that are near expiration but not over. There are a lot of needy families worldwide that could benefit from such organizations. More Volunteer Kitchens might help those in need, they can be placed near Food Banks and provide a hot meal to go.
pointofview
@Strangerland,
They wouldn`t say such a thing in the article so people feel pity but we all know it happens and there is a very good possibility that some of the kids that are suffering in poverty is a direct result of the mother taking them away from the father. What a stain on Japanese culture.
clueless
Never hear of single fathers having to raise children on their own.
Japan just loves to inflict pain and suffering on itself and it's people.
Couples separate and that's a fact of modern living. But why deny (without proper cause) the father to see his child and for that matter…the child to see its father?
Cruel legislation
Wc626
What an interesting read. Lots good comments here. This story reminds me of that movie: "Nobody Knows."
GW
Lots seriously messed up in Japan regarding families, divorce, custody, family(stone aged) registers, etc, ALL of it true, sure some parents(mostly mothers) run away & deny access to kids, but there is no doubt the govt really FAILS its own people & CHILDREN when it come to single parent families
So much more could easily be done to help people in this country but the wa & simple stupidity too often get in the way & more & more are suffering
shonanbb
Heating only needs to be used when you are home, and different rooms can be cut off. Lots of places to get wam and sit and read too like department stores. They also have places for kids to play.
sighclops
Yet there will be no mass media coverage, no hard-hitting docos on prime time TV - just more rainbows & lollipops variety BS for the sheepish masses. Hear no evil, see no evil... right guys? Japan is living a lie!
Yubaru
Never heard does not mean does not happen. I have a number of current and former coworkers (male) who raised their children. Rare...yes, but NEVER no.
Expand your horizons.
bruinfan
The sad thing is this problem was bad enough under the DPJ, but is now even worse under Abe's administration. Abenomics supporters anyone?
canadianbento
When are the people of the World going to admit their are too many of us chasing the same things!
Aly Rustom
Wha..? devel...wha? We on the same island? I'm in Japan. I wish I could say it was a developing country. Its a regressing country that never fully developed.
Very true.
Yup.
Yup.
I personally will teach my kids to spit on his pic before washing their faces in the morning.