ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
October 3, 2016
‘Children’s cafeterias’ combat poverty, neglect in Japan
By Satoshi Sugiyama
The Associated Press
OKYO — Laughter and lively
chatter filled a room at a modest
apartment in Tokyo one recent
Thursday night as more than two dozen
kids and volunteers gathered around
tables laden with curry, rice, salad, and
fruits.
Misako Omura’s weekly dinner is one of
a growing number of kodomo shokudo, or
“children’s cafeterias,” that are springing
up across Japan. The mostly grassroots
efforts seek to address a range of
child-related issues, from poverty to
ensuring that those with late-working
parents get a proper dinner. A tally by the
national Asahi newspaper found 319 such
places serving free or low-cost meals
across Japan as of May, up from 21 in 2013.
Over the past 70 years, Japan’s rising
affluence has banished most of the penury
of the lean years during and after World
War II, when children sometimes starved
and many families went hungry. But
despite its ultra-modern conveniences,
Japan had the 10th-highest child poverty
rate among 31 relatively well-off countries
in a 2013 UNICEF report.
Poverty in Japan is largely hidden, as it
can lead to public shame and discrimina-
tion. Families often skimp on food and
other necessities to ensure children are
dressed well enough to avoid being seen as
disadvantaged. Such children might have
smartphones but not the money to buy a
100-yen ($1) box of juice or participate in a
school field trip, said Setsuko Ito, who
heads the child-rearing-support division
T
in Tokyo’s working-class Arakawa district.
Omura started her weekly dinner in
Arakawa in 2014 to create a space to
welcome area children who might not get
enough support from their families,
schools, and communities. Her initiative,
supported by donations and a grant from
the district office, is meant to counter a
void left as communities hollow out and
family ties unravel, leaving many parents
and children isolated and struggling to
cope. The kids and volunteers pay 300 yen
($3) for dinner.
“I hope everyone can develop a sense
that each child is our child and understand
that we are raising the children who will be
supporting us as the next generation,” she
said.
Omura emphasized that the children
who come to her weekly dinners are not
necessarily living in poverty. In some
cases, they just have to dine alone because
their parents are working late. She asked
The Associated Press not to interview the
children, out of concern that public
exposure might lead to harassment at
school and in their neighborhood, or even
when applying for jobs in the future.
Just over half of all Japanese
single-parent households are considered to
be under the poverty line. Single mothers,
who make on average 150,000 yen ($1,490)
per month, receive limited support from
welfare programs.
Though a 2013 law aims to coordinate
national and local government efforts to
provide educational, living, and economic
support, many local officials are struggling
KODOMO SHOKUDO. Visitors and volunteers
eat a meal at kodomo shokudo, or “children’s cafete-
rias,” in Tokyo. Many people in Japan are helping kids
facing hardships by setting up the cafeterias, where
students can dine and relax with their neighbors. Pov-
erty in Japan is largely hidden. Families often skimp
on food and other necessities to ensure children are
dressed well enough to avoid being seen as disadvan-
taged. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
with the issue, said Kaori Suetomi, a
professor specializing in education
administration and finance at Nihon
University in Tokyo.
“Until now, Japan hasn’t really dealt
with child poverty, and officials are not
sure what to do,” said Suetomi, co-author
of a recent report on policies devised by
local governments across Japan to address
the issue.
The problem, she said, is budgets for
those programs are not guaranteed, so
some local governments have had to
abandon programs. In addition, Suetomi
said that child poverty issues overlap
between the education and welfare
ministries. That makes securing funds
difficult as the ministries shuffle the
responsibility of which should bear the
cost, she said.
The “children’s cafeterias” are an
attempt to fill that void.
Kazuma Omoto, a former participant
and aspiring teacher who volunteers at
Omura’s dinners, said he attends to find
himself and learn how to interact with
younger children.
“It’s a wonderful place for that,” the high
school junior said. “I come here every
week. Going forward I hope I can study and
learn many different things myself.”
Attendees at North Korean air show wowed by model F-16
By Eric Talmadge
The Associated Press
ONSAN, North Korea — Now here’s something
you don’t see every day: an F-16 fighter jet
buzzing through the skies of North Korea and
launching — fireworks.
The plane roaring over people’s heads at the country’s
first air show was actually a remote-controlled mockup of
the fabled U.S Air Force fighter.
The scale models of the F-16 and a Chinese J-10 fighter
were featured on the second day of the Wonsan
International Friendship Air Festival.
The choice of flying a one-sixth scale F-16 at the show
was an odd one considering the outrage North Korea
regularly expresses over the presence of U.S. troops and
Air Force bases in South Korea.
The North was particularly outraged over recent flights
by B-1B Lancer bombers, which are capable of dropping
nuclear weapons, near the Demilitarized Zone that
divides the Koreas in a display of power after the North’s
fifth nuclear test, conducted September 9.
The model fighters did, however, appear to please the
crowd watching the air displays at Wonsan’s newly
renovated Kalma Airport.
Thousands of North Koreans and hundreds of foreign
tourists and journalists invited to the event — which was
intended to showcase Wonsan’s tourism appeal — were
given a rare glimpse of North Korea’s own air force
fighters, including a MiG-29 and SU-25 ground attack
fighter, acquired from Russia.
“This plane is faster than other airplanes and can
maneuver quickly, so there is little time to think, you must
make fast decisions,” Rim Sol, a MiG-21 pilot said,
standing beside her fighter on the tarmac.
The Wonsan airport was long used by the North’s mili-
tary but was upgraded and rebuilt to handle commercial
flights, though it is unclear how it would fit into national
flag-carrier Air Koryo’s very limited international flight
schedule.
The final day also included a demonstration of military
parachuting, with the first two skydivers descending with
huge North Korean and ruling party flags.
Officials refused to comment on the origin of the model
F-16.
The air show’s first day opened with an aerobatic
W
SCHOOLS TARGETED. A Nepalese person watches members
of the bomb squad dispose of a pressure-cooker bomb at a school in
Kathmandu, Nepal. Police in Nepal say small bombs exploded outside
two schools in the capital, but no injuries and only minor damage were
reported. Unexploded bombs were also found at five other schools in
the city. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Small bombs go off
outside two Nepal schools
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Small bombs exploded
outside two schools in Nepal’s capital, but no injuries and
only minor damage were reported, according to officials.
Unexploded bombs were found at five other schools in the
city.
The explosions took place outside the gates of two
schools for students from grades 1 to 10, said police official
Bikram Singh Thapa. The unexploded devices found in
front of five other schools in Kathmandu were either
detonated or removed.
Police arrested two people suspected of being behind the
blasts, Thapa said. Police found pamphlets near the blast
sites and attached to the unexploded devices from a
little-known group demanding free education for all
Nepalese children.
Thapa said no injuries were reported and that the
explosions caused minor damage to the schools’ gates.
Security and police surveillance were stepped up
around schools in Kathmandu. School officials were to
meet later with government education officials to discuss
the attacks.
While education is mostly free in Nepal’s public schools,
the teachers are poorly paid and the infrastructure is
substandard, leading most children in the cities to attend
private schools.
Advertise your business, service, or recruitment advertisement in The Asian Reporter!
For information, call (503) 283-4440 or e-mail <ads@asianreporter.com>.
WONSAN AIR SHOW. A remote-controlled F-16 fighter jet lands in
front of an Air Koryo commercial airplane at Kalma Airport after a flight
demonstration in Wonsan, North Korea. Thousands of Koreans and hun-
dreds of foreign tourists and journalists invited to Wonsan for the Wonsan
International Friendship Air Festival were given a glimpse of North Korea’s
own Air Force fighters, remote-controlled scale mockup planes including
an F-16 fighter jet, and demonstrations of military parachuting, with the
first two skydivers descending with huge North Korean and ruling party
flags. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
display by U.S.-made Hughes MD 500 military-use
helicopters, the origin of which has raised questions of
whether international sanctions against North Korea
were violated.
Retirement Living
C HAUCER C OURT
• A PARTMENTS ~ S TUDIO ,
O NE B EDROOM , AND
M OBILITY I MPAIRED
• F EDERAL R ENT
S UBSIDIES A VAILABLE
• N O B UY -I N OR
A PPLICATION F EES
• A FFORDABLE R ENT 30 % OF
A DJUSTED G ROSS I NCOME
• I DEAL U RBAN L OCATION
NEAR R ESTAURANTS P UBLIC
T RANSPORTATION , M EDICAL
F ACILITIES , & S HOPPING
503-224-3559
Come Visit Us and See Our
Newly Renovated Apartments!
1019 SW 10 TH A VE • P ORTLAND 97205