Volunteers hand meal packages out to homeless on New Year's Day in Tokyo

Jan 02, 2021 | News On Japan

Jan 02, 2021 (Ruptly) - Dozens of volunteers of the Tsukuroi Tokyo Fund spent the first day of 2021 handing out lunches, clothes and offering consultations to homeless people, who lost homes and jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Representative of the Tsukuroi Tokyo Fund Inaba Tsuyoshi explained, "this situation has been going on for eight months already, so even those who have managed to keep up with their savings are now in a situation where they can no longer pay their rent and become homeless."

Tsuyoshi said that despite urges to the government to provide welfare and adequate support measures, only a one-time payment of 100,000 yen (€796; $968) was provided.

"Consultations on life and labour," were also provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Support at St Ignatius' Catholic Church on Friday.

"Since this spring, we have called on the government to strengthen its measures against poverty. Due to the influence of the impact, the number of people in need of living is increasing rapidly," added Tsuyoshi.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, Japan has reported just under 240,000 confirmed cases of the virus, and 3,337 deaths with the virus.

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