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Japan for Sustainability Newsletter #163
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March 31, 2016
Copyright (c) 2016, Japan for Sustainability
Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a non-profit communication platform to
disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world, with the
aim of helping both move onto a sustainable path.
See what's new on our web site: http://www.japanfs.org/en/
E-mail: info@japanfs.org
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In the March 2016 issue of the JFS Newsletter:
- Report from Fukushima: Five Years after the Great East Japan
Earthquake
- Message from Women in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Hit by the Great
East Japan Earthquake
- Kodomo-Shokudo Project to Provide Children with a Warm Meal and Place
to Visit
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Report from Fukushima: Five Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035527.html
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused massive
devastation in the Tohoku District, followed by a massive tsunami and
aftershocks. The death toll exceeded 15,000, and nearly 2,500 people
remain missing. At the same time, the disaster led to an unprecedented
nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant owned by
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). Five years later, the entire Tohoku
region continues moving toward reconstruction, but over 80,000 people
still live away from home as evacuees, particularly in areas within a
20-kilometer radius of the plant, located on the coast of Fukushima
Prefecture.
On February 7, 2016, JFS joined a study tour arranged for students of
JFS chief executive Junko Edahiro's laboratory at Tokyo City University.
We visited areas within a radius of 20 kilometers from the plant, and
the Minamisoma Solar Agripark, which was launched to nurture and train
human resources for Fukushima's reconstruction. The tour was hosted by
Eiju Hangai, director of the non-profit group Asubito Fukushima (Asubito
means "people who open the way to tomorrow"). We visited these places
while listening to the stories of what happened at the sites and details
of current conditions. This JFS newsletter article is a report on the
current status of what we saw during these site visits and the efforts
of Asubito Fukushima, which has devoted itself to educating the next
generation to play a leading role in future reconstruction.
---------------------------------------
It takes over two hours by northbound express train from central Tokyo
to reach Iwaki Station, located in the southern part of Fukushima
Prefecture. After receiving a warm welcome from the staff of Asubito
Fukushima, we boarded their micro-bus, and headed north along the
coastal highway to the areas within a radius of 20 kilometers from the
nuclear power plant.
Still Waiting to Go Home: The Residents of Naraha Town, Futaba District
The bus drove north, entered the 20-kilometer exclusion zone and came to
the first town, Naraha, where the evacuation directive was lifted on
September 5, 2015, after decontamination of the land was deemed complete.
A large number of black plastic bags ("flexible bulk containers") filled
with soil and dry grass scooped from the surface are still crammed into
a temporary stock yard.
Although the evacuation directive was lifted over six months ago, only
400 residents have returned out of the total pre-disaster population of
about 8,000. It has been five years since the earthquakes, tsunamis, and
the nuclear accident, and many evacuees have started new chapters of
their lives in other places. According to our guide Hangai, the choice
for those people was a matter whether or not they really wanted to
choose their home town as a place to resettle yet again .
Frozen in Time: The Town of Tomioka, Futaba District
>From Naraha, our bus took us further north to the town of Tomioka, where
the evacuation directive is scheduled to be lifted in March 2017.
Located along the seafront, the building of the Tomioka Station of the
Joban Line, operated by the East Japan Railway Company, was destroyed by
the tsunami in 2011 and only a platform remains. The tsunami also
destroyed the downstairs parts of neighboring houses. Since this area
was designated as being in the evacuation zone, it became off-limits
right after the nuclear accident, and it remains as if frozen in time,
looking the same today as it did just after the disaster. Hangai said,
"Toward the evacuation directive being lifted, this area is planned to
be bulldozed, including the half-collapsed houses around Tomioka Station.
In my personal view, I would like to have even a small part of the area
left as it is, so we [as a people] never forget about this disaster, but..."
Towns Close to the Nuclear Power Plant: Okuma and Futaba, Futaba District
The town of Okuma, where the evacuation directive is scheduled to be
lifted in March 2017, is home to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant. As both Okuma and Futaba are located close by, they are
designated as "areas where it is expected that residents will face
difficulties in returning for a long time," and they are restricted from
free entry all day, except for taking major roadways, with the exception
of workers engaged in decontamination and reconstruction. To protect
houses from burglars, the entrances of every house in these areas, even
the ones not affected by the tsunami, are barricaded shut.
Along the public roadway are former rice fields where decontamination
has not yet been carried out. They looked really rough, with shrubs one
to two meters in height growing randomly. We couldn't recognize the
place as being rice fields if we were not told what they were. Students
who joined the tour said they felt a sense of fear, as if time had
stopped, and sadness from seeing the reality.
Hangai stopped at one place where we could see a tower of the power
plant under the decommissioning process and said, almost choking, "We
believed that nuclear power plants were 100-percent safe. We never
imagined facing such an accident and losing all the power as a result of
the earthquake and following tsunami. In this respect, we cannot deny
that it was a man-made disaster. As a former executive officer of Tokyo
Electric Power Co., I want to apologize for what happened."
The Ghost Town of Odaka Ward, City of Minamisoma
In Odaka, the evacuation directive is scheduled to be lifted in the
summer of 2016. At the time we visited, the whole area looked like a
ghost town, with no people on the street, although it was the same
streetscape as before, because it was not severely affected by the
tsunami. After seeing the area, participants exchanged their views,
saying, "Even though the houses remained safe, without people the place
has lost its function as a town."
Hangai says that most of the people planning to return to town when the
evacuation directive is lifted are over 65 years old. Japan is currently
facing serious problems as an aging society with a low birthrate.
Particularly in the areas where the evacuation order has been lifted,
the age demographics today are already at the projected national average
for 20 years from now. In this regard, the 20-kilometer evacuation zone
is a so-called "advanced area of aging." How the area copes with the
aging problem and whether it can take a leadership role in solving it
will be an important case study for the future of all of Japanese
society.
Minamisoma Solar Agripark
The 20-kilometer evacuation zone's boundary north of the power plant is
somewhere around Haramachi Ward in the city of Minamisoma. To foster the
next generation of leaders who can take on the responsibility of Fukushima's
reconstruction, the Minamisoma Agripark was established and opened in
March 2013 in Haramachi on former farmland and the empty lots of five
houses that were washed away by the tsunami.
The Agripark includes power generation equipment that allows visitors to
see and try out electricity generation using "green energy." The facility
includes small-scale hydroelectric equipment that runs either by using a
human-powered water turbine or pumped storage, and a solar panel
manually adjustable to the most suitable direction and angle for effective
generation. The students eagerly tried the generation equipment as soon
as they arrived.
At the facility's room for training the next generation of leaders and
companies, we exchanged opinions in small groups. We talked about what
we found out and what we thought after visiting the 20-kilometer zone
for the first time. "Even in the same 20-kilometer evacuation zone, the
extent of damage varies. Some areas were severely damaged by the tsunami,
leaving many houses and buildings half-destroyed. Others have the same
streetscape as before but have become an uninhabited zone." One of the
students said, "I saw an electric power cable near the power plant that
runs towards Tokyo. I simply don't understand why the electricity
generated at this power plant was transmitted to Tokyo all the way from
Fukushima," which deepened discussions and the active exchange of
opinions.
Small Steps, Big Dreams
Asubito Fukushima's Hangai, who has been engaged in the reconstruction
of Fukushima, worries that the younger generation's outflow to urban
areas would lead not only to greater economic disparities between cities
and rural areas but also to gaps in human resource capacity. Thus, he
came to think about how to foster human resources in the countryside.
Having a sense of crisis about this situation, he launched the Fukushima
Solar and Agriculture Experience Association in April 2012 to foster
children and the next generation who will be responsible for Fukushima's
reconstruction in the future. He thought that hands-on experiences would
be the best way to educate children. That's why the association has been
hosting experience-based educational activities and an open school at
the Minamisoma Solar Agripark in collaboration with local elementary and
junior high schools, aiming to help children develop their thinking abilities,
make presentations, and take action.
In May 2014 in the city of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, the
association also launched an open school for senior high school students,
colloquially called "Hangai & Edahiro Juku" (juku means "school"), with
JFS chief executive Junko Edahiro, to foster the young generation of
reconstruction leaders in Fukushima through experiencing planning and
the actual practice of running a social enterprise. As the nuclear power
plant accident caused damage to the reputation of agricultural products
from their beloved home of Fukushima, the students thought they wanted
to do something about it. The students' editorial club started
publishing an information magazine once every three months, called
"Messages from High School Students: Fukushima Taberu Tsushin (Eating
Fukushima Magazine)," where they compile stories and anecdotes from
farmers in Fukushima, along with a supplement on the agricultural
produce they painstakingly grow.
Fukushima Solar and Agriculture Experience Association to Foster the
Next Generation of Reconstruction Leaders
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035284.html
Hangai is working on nurturing the human resources of the next generation,
hoping that children who see adults making efforts in reconstruction
come to admire them and want to be like them. He said that it would be
good if such a longing would be handed down to coming generations. Under
the slogan "The end is social and the means is business," he is also
trying to ensure economic sustainability to continue activities of human
resource development by launching a photovoltaic facility and sell
surplus electricity to donate the profits to the association, whose name
was later changed to Asubito Fukushima.
On top of fostering the next generation, Hangai is dealing with a corporate
training program that encourages working adults to think together about
Fukushima's reconstruction. It was in January 2016, when the name of the
association was changed to Asubito Fukushima. Starting in the spring, a
new project to develop university students into social entrepreneurs
will be kicked off in Tokyo. A joint team, consisting of students who
have graduated from the open school for senior high school and working
adults who participated in the corporate training program, will take on
the challenge of establishing social enterprises.
As mentioned above, the situations vary within the radius of 20
kilometers from the nuclear power plant. It has been five years since
the disaster, but there are still many problems remaining. Even once the
evacuation directive is lifted, will residents come back or not? Even if
they return, will each town function as a town again or not? Then
there's the critical issue in the area of a super-aging society, with
the aging rate already equivalent to the national average projected for
20 years from now. JFS will keep you informed of Fukushima's efforts to
address these problems through fostering the next generation.
Written by Noriko Sakamoto and Naoko Niitsu
------------
On April 6 (Wed), this article's writers, Noriko Sakamoto and Naoko
Niitsu, will speak about their experiences visiting the sites described
above.
Guest speakers will also include two people who dedicated themselves to
disaster reconstruction in the affected region:
- Robin Lewis, International Coordinator in Disaster Relief, Peace Boat
- Angela Ortiz, Representative Director, OGA for Aid
If you live in or near Tokyo, come and join us!
http://www.meetup.com/Tokyo-Sustainability-Meetup/events/229782012/
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Message from Women in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Hit by the Great
East Japan Earthquake
Five years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. What
thoughts do disaster victims have now? How are they living these days?
This issue introduces messages from three women, excerpted from a
leaflet issued by Naomi Chiba, who continues recording what she hears
from women in Ishinomaki, a disaster-afflicted city, about their
disaster experiences.
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Introduction
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused immense damage
in Eastern Japan. The earthquake and tsunami destroyed many valuable
buildings, houses and other property, and took many precious lives. In
Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, reconstruction and restoration is now
gradually progressing; the city's appearance has been changing, with
roads repaired; plants, companies and stores built or restored; and
houses newly constructed. A mountain of problems, however, has hindered
construction of public housing for disaster victims, development of land
for residential areas and preparation for relocation to higher land.
These have not been resolved even after five years have passed. Even so,
the victims must continue their daily lives. Time passes relentlessly.
How about matters unseen? What have so-called "disaster victims" been
thinking since the earthquake, and how do they feel about things? How
have the women, in particular, been feeling? There are many women who
still cannot rebuild their lives and have no choice but to put up with
inconveniences. I started listening to their disaster experiences and
recording what I heard.
Some of the women stood talking with me for 10 minutes. Others chatted
for 30 minutes over tea. Yet others sat for interviews of more than two
hours. I started recording what I heard in March 2014, three years after
the disaster. I have recorded the stories of a total of 20 women. They
are of various ages, differ in their living environments and suffered
varying degrees of damage. No two women had the same life, underwent the
same disaster experience, or shared the same thoughts or feelings.
Each of the 20 women is the one and only person who lived her own life
before the earthquake, and has been living her own life since then. I
believe that we can learn something meaningful from their words and pass
their wisdom on to the future. Some readers may sympathize with any of
the 20 women's lives, and others may identify themselves with these
women.
(1) M.N. (in her 60s) May 17, 2014
On March 11, my jewelry store was hit by the tsunami and filled with
sludge and rubble. I thought, "My store is ruined." Next day, however, I
climbed a hill nearby and started to think about what I should do, what
I would do and how I should live, and one idea struck me after another.
I continued climbing the hill, Mt. Hiyori, each day. A week later, I
went back to my store and realized that I was not the only person who
had suffered from the tsunami.
I cleaned the mud-covered jewels at my store. While doing so, I came up
with the idea of having my customers' jewels cleaned, since theirs must
have gotten dirty, too. I sent postcards to 300 customers and had them
bring their jewels to my store, then sent the jewels to a jewelry-cleaning
company by parcel delivery. Later, I returned the clean jewels in
beautiful bags or cases to their owners. The jewels were "reborn." I just
wanted to help them have the jewels cleaned, not to sell products. After
the earthquake, I started checking the newspapers for my customers'
names in lists of fatalities.
I applied to a lottery for shop owner rights on a temporary shopping
street and was chosen. I wanted to help others and thought I would do my
best with the unique opportunities at hand. If I did something for
others that would have made me happy, it would come back to me. I'm the
type of person who turns thought into action immediately. I looked for a
role for my shop in this town. I consulted with a bank. The bank may
have recognized my enthusiasm and motivation. It listened to me and gave
me advice. One of the bank employees told me, "I get good vibes from you,
so I want to side with you." I can continue my business thanks to my
customers, employees and people around me. I'm grateful to them. I would
like to do something for them. I will go straight into action without
hesitation. I believe I can make it. I will open the door by myself to
take one small step. When I was in my 30s and 40s I underwent a series
of hardships. I have wanted to be economically independent since my
earlier years, so I had a neighbor look after my mother-in-law in her
house.
My philosophy is live and let live. Don't compare yourself to others--
there is no point in it. "Image" is important, so I would like to create
a decent shop, not an incomplete one, even though it will be open just
temporarily. I say, the results will take care of themselves. Little
opportunities may lead to strong connections with others. Care
about others, because no one can live alone.
For one reason or another, people come to me to have a talk with me.
Humans are wonderful. I am happy to be a human. After the earthquake,
I learned how to use PCs and went to an announcement training class.
I think I have a duty to be of help to someone. It is important for me
to help others and face what lies ahead without fail. I had a severe
illness when I was 39. Since the age of 60, I have done everything with
all my strength every day. My life is full of curiosity. I'm like an eternal girl.
(2) C.D. (in her 60s) March 29, 2014
I sometimes remember the earthquake. In the aftermath, I used an
old-type heater for warmth and cooking. I also used an electric heater.
I walked or rode a bicycle or car to go places, and realized that
physical strength was necessary. It is important to lead a healthy life
daily. I cooked miso soup for volunteers and friends who hurried in to
help me.
I want to care for the global environment. After the earthquake, I opened
up my repaired house to local people and have been hosting gatherings
with senior neighbors since then. Through these gatherings, I sometimes
hear about things for the first time that happened just after the disaster,
such as how my cat behaved when the earthquake occurred. I came to
realize the importance of associating with neighbors such as by speaking
to them frequently. If I let a neighbor know that I will go out for a while,
I don't have to lock the doors of my house.
I realized I had been kept alive. "To live" means "to be kept alive." I
wasn't killed by the tsunami. The disaster has changed something inside
me. I've had a stronger urge to do things than before. I also think I
should do something for people who died unwillingly. Some died because
they happened to be at the beach that day even though their house was in
the hills, and others died because after evacuating to higher ground,
they thought it would be okay to return to their houses at a lower
altitude. Some of my acquaintances survived by evacuating to a place at
someone's beckoning. I ponder over the differences between those who
survived and those who died in the disaster. When I consider why I
survived, I feel like I have been requested to do something. For others.
I ask myself what made the difference between life and death for people
who were in the same place at the same time under the same conditions.
The disaster may have revealed each person's nature. I want to consider
human nature, ways of life, and what lies ahead.
I'm not attached to material objects any more. My sense of value over
what I should care about has changed. Association with people, involvement
with neighbors, and considerate words and behaviors toward others are
all important. It may also be important to offer a helping hand gently
and make good use of one's imagination. Having a variety of experiences
enriches our lives and makes us more compassionate. What we need will
come to us when really needed.
We must value nature. The tsunami brought black stinking sludge back to
us from the ocean. My husband, son and I had to live together (with three
cats) in a tiny room on the second floor of our house for a while, but I
was happy and we were of one mind. Candlelight and a battery-powered
light were our only sources of illumination. We woke up with the morning
sun and went to bed with the sunset. We humans should change our way of
life. We should focus on what we have instead of what we don't have.
Nature repairs itself. I will take over a closed cafe one of my acquaintances
used to own and reopen it in August 2014.
(3) Y.Z. (in her 60s) June 22, 2014
People in Ishinomaki ignored words carved on a stone monument: "Don't
build houses from this point on to the seaside." Forty or fifty years
ago, real estate agents would warn of tsunami risks at that location,
but there were people who purchased land there anyway. Three years have
passed since the disaster, but the reconstruction process is so tough
for them.
On the day of the disaster, I thought -- as a person who was allowed to
live -- I should live for people who lost their lives. I lost my neighbors
and my house. It can't be helped. Others also had similar experiences. I
saw many dead bodies. I was supported by many people and wonder how I
can return the favor to them. I don't want any material things. Many
people told me that being alive was enough even if they had no
possessions. I was supported by their words. Certainly, I was also
supported by supplies and others' hearts. I felt that people who had
faith were strong, tender-hearted and gentle.
There is a plan to leave a disaster-stricken elementary school building
as it is as a relic of the disaster, but I oppose it. Seeing the building
makes me sad and reminds me of the fact that many people lost their
lives. I am happy to live with my husband. I should not continue to be
sad. Merely reconstructing our house is not the ultimate goal. I want to
go see Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Three years -- three inexplicable years
-- have passed since the disaster. I want to start a construction business.
For me, the loss of my elderly sister in 2013 was more painful than the
disaster. I want to return the favor of kindness to someone at home or
abroad. I am lucky that I have many friends. There are friends I talk
with. Alone, a person can do nothing. Trust is important. We can do
something about material goods. I have friends who invite me to stay the
night.
I use my car not only to get around by myself but also to offer rides to
acquaintances who lost their cars. Actually, I got my driver's license
at the age of 45. I completely lost my house, but I'm all right, because
I have family. After the disaster, I came to understand humanity and the
inner thoughts of others. I was shocked when someone told me, "You had
it coming." I won't meet or interact with bad persons. There were also
nice people who travelled a long way to bring me rice and miso
(fermented bean paste).
I want to live the way I like. I have worked for 20 years, so I have no
regrets if I die at any time. I have taken care of others in my own way.
Of course, I don't want to die and leave my husband alone. For men,
living alone seems too sad. It does no good to think about it. I will
stand up and face problems.
Before the disaster, I was into rings and leather items and had many
kimonos, shoes and bags. I'm not interested in them at all anymore. I
don't want to wear rings now. It's amazing, but there is nothing I want
to possess. My desire for possessions is gone. In our earlier years, my
husband left on a ship and I raised our children by myself. I left my
children in someone's care to go to work.
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In our future newsletters we will introduce others' messages, with Ms.
Chiba's hope that their messages will reach women in Japan and elsewhere
in the world.
For anyone wanting to contact Ms. Chiba, please email her at:
swan20110311@gmail.com
Written by Junko Edahiro
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Kodomo-Shokudo Project to Provide Children with a Warm Meal and Place to
Visit
There are many initiatives providing food to people in need in both
developing and developed countries. For example, the Food Bank project
has become popular mainly in the United States and Europe to provide
food that would have been discarded to facilities and people needing
food. In Japan, regional food bank networks are also being built. One
recent initiative in Japan has been Kodomo-Shokudo (children's cafeteria).
What is Kodomo-Shokudo? In this issue of the JFS Newsletter, we feature
this grass-roots initiative, describing its background in Japan.
One in Six Children in Japan Impoverished under Widening Economic
Disparity
According to the 2012 Annual Report on Health, Labor and Welfare, the
relative poverty rate* of children under 18 was 16.3 percent, meaning an
alarming one in six children were in poverty in Japan.
*The term "relative poverty rate" is frequently used to describe
poverty in developed countries. It is the proportion of people with
income below half of the median equivalent income ("Median" means the
middle number when arranging a set of numbers in value order). By
contrast, the "absolute poverty rate" is used as an index to express
poverty in developing countries, and is the proportion of people
whose income or expenses are below a certain level. For example, the
World Bank defined the absolute poverty rate in 2008 as the
proportion of people with living expenses of less than U.S.$1.25 per day.
Japan has long been regarded as a country with low economic disparity.
This is symbolized in the phrase "a hundred million people, all middle
class" that became popular in the 1970s. The Gini coefficient*,
representing inequality and disparity, was small around 1970 in Japan,
indicating low disparity in income, but then gradually increased to
today's level, which is well above the OECD average. In other words,
Japan has a wider economic gap than the average OECD country.
*The Gini coefficient is an index representing the degree of social
disparity in income. Gini coefficients range between 0 and 1. Values
nearer to 0 represent less disparity and those nearer to 1, greater
disparity.
With greater economic disparity, poverty has become a serious problem.
According to OECD Fact Book 2010, Japan's relative poverty rate is the
fourth highest among OECD member countries. Especially serious is
poverty among single-mother families. Data for 2011 show the average
income of families with children to have been 6.97 million yen (about
U.S.$58,000) while that of single-mother families was 2.91 million yen
(about U.S.$24,300), including allowances, according to the Nationwide
Survey on Fatherless Families by the Ministry of Health, Labour and
Welfare. Poverty among children has become a social concern.
Approaches to Child Poverty
Poor children have insufficient educational opportunities due to
difficult life circumstances. This may result in long-term influences
such as widened disparities in future income. The Japanese Government
enforced the Act to Accelerate Measures for Disadvantaged Kids in 2015
to support poor children's education, life circumstances and employment,
but governmental efforts are still insufficient.
Concerning child poverty, the problem of food is also serious. Some
students have supper alone, eating snacks or convenience store box
lunches, because their parents have to work even at suppertime. Most
such children obtain nutrition only from school lunches, and teachers
say some students lose weight after long school holidays such as summer
vacation. Some seriously poor families cannot afford school lunch fees.
One grass-roots approach to solving such food problems among poor
children is Kodomo-Shokudo.
What is Kodomo-Shokudo?
Kodomo-Shokudo provides free or reduced-price meals to children.
Differing from ordinary restaurants that operate almost every day, most
of them open once or twice a month, managed by volunteer staff. Most
ingredients are supplied through donations. Users of Kodomo-Shokudo
include children from families in economically difficult situations or
with little time to prepare meals because of both parents having to work.
For instance, there is a Kodomo-Shokudo that opens from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
on the first and third Wednesday each month, and anyone can eat dinner
there for 300 yen (U.S.$2.50). Another cafeteria opens from 6:00 to 8:00
p.m. every Monday offering meals for free to children and for 300 yen to
adults.
Kodomo-Shokudo has drawn rapidly increasing attention in the last couple
of years, and we often see newspaper articles reporting a children's
cafeteria opening in one area or another. There are also many people who
would like to open their own. In fact, the second Kodomo-Shokudo Summit,
held in January 2016 reached its admission capacity of 200 people
beforehand, attracting strong interest.
Various Types of Kodomo-Shokudo
We call these programs "Kodomo-Shokudo" in short, but each of them is
unique and has various roles in addition to just providing meals. For
example, many programs provide a place for children to study or play
before and after meals. Some programs with a focus on providing "space"
try to attract a variety of people regardless of age and nationality,
without using the name "Kodomo-Shokudo." In such cases, parents
participating in programs with their children can find someone to talk
to regarding their worries about parenting.
Kodomo-Shokudo programs are conducted in various venues, including shops,
residential homes and temples. Residential homes may have difficulties
preparing meals because of insufficient cooking facilities and lack of
large pots. In this regard, temples may be more suitable for programs.
Temples usually have a large kitchen equipped with large pots and many
dishes. In addition, temples have plenty of space for children to play.
In one unique example, retired men play a major role in cooking meals
for a Kodomo-Shokudo. A newly coined term "ikumen" (men who actively
participate in child-rearing) is often heard these days, and "ikumen"
are no longer rare. Many Japanese men, however, are too busy with work
in their younger years to make time for active involvement in
child-rearing and community activities. Through the operation of
Kodomo-Shokudo, these men can connect with children and other people in
the community.
A Kodomo-Shokudo at a house owned by an elderly person can provide
children with a chance to interact with seniors. In other programs,
children are encouraged to help prepare meals so that they can learn how
to cook meals for themselves.
Therefore, Kodomo-Shokudo programs have the potential to address various
issues in communities and society. Little by little, municipalities have
been moving toward providing support for Kodomo-Shokudo in recent years.
Difficulties in Operating Kodomo-Shokudo
Kodomo-Shokudo programs are now spreading, but there have been some
difficulties in getting the programs on track. The largest challenge is
that it takes time before children in need come to Kodomo-Shokudo.
People involved in the programs say that the number of children participating
is often small at the beginning. In some cases, adult volunteers and visitors
outnumber the children, joking that it is a cafeteria for adults rather
than kids. They also say, though, that the number of children gradually
increases through word of mouth and social networking services (SNS), as
they continue opening Kodomo-Shokudo on a regular basis.
Are there any grass-roots initiatives addressing food issues associated
with child poverty in your area? If there are any, please share them
with us.
Written by Naoko Niitsu
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[JFS Web Site Additions of the Month]
- JFS Starting on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/japan.fs/
JFS is now starting out on Instagram to share clips of our activities
& events.
Follow us. We hope you'll enjoy it!
- This month's cartoon:
"Toward a society using less resources and energy"
(2016/03/09)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/manga/manga_id035515.html
- JFS Newsletter No.162 (February 2016)
Future Vision of Economic Growth and Sustainable Society
(2016/03/16)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035520.html
Villagers Use Hand-Made Canals and Their Own Money to
Generate Micro-Hydropower(2016/02/29)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035506.html
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