Aid groups say thousands of Japanese families are living under the poverty line. For many that means they cannot afford to put food on their tables. One organization is trying to fix Japan's hunger problem.
一些救援机构说，成千上万的日本家庭生活在贫困线以下。对很多人来说，这意味着买不起食物。
Helping families in need
Volunteers at the Second Harvest Food pantry in Tokyo fill cardboard boxes with bread, vegetables and canned goods. The boxes soon will be sent to families living around the city.
东京的赈饥慈善机构“第二丰收组织”的志愿服务人员往纸箱里装面包、蔬菜和罐头食品。这些纸箱将很快送往东京各处的家庭。
"Our three main groups of people are refugees, single mothers and Japanese who are unemployed," said Ruby Sakuma, the pantry's coordinator. "Right now we have about 140 households we are serving. They get one package of food every two weeks, a total of six packages and when those six packages are sent we send them a letter saying this is the end, if they are in really dire circumstances then we sometimes renew their order and send them another six packages."
佐久间是东京“第二丰收组织”的协调员。他说：“我们服务的三个主要群体是难民、单亲母亲和失业的日本居民。目前我们向大约140个家庭提供服务。他们每两个星期得到一箱食品，总共将得到6箱食品。我们发送完6箱食品之后，会给他们一封信，说赠送食品行动结束。如果他们的处境实在糟糕，我们有时候会再次帮助他们，向他们发送6箱食品。”
Hard to keep up with demand
Sakuma says during this year's global economic slowdown it has been harder to keep up with demand and fill their clients' orders.
佐久间说，在今年的全球经济滑坡期间，他们更难满足对食品救援的需求，帮助有困难的家庭。
Second Harvest is Japan's first and only food bank. Workers go to supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses to collect food that often, because of damaged packaging or other problems, would have been thrown away.
“第二丰收组织”是日本第一家、也是唯一一家所谓“食品银行”。这家组织的工作人员到超市、餐厅和其它企业收集食品。这些食品通常由于包装损坏或其它原因而要被扔掉。
This waste is what compelled American Charles McJilton to help create the organization in 2002.
这种浪费使得美国人麦克吉尔顿2002年创建了“第二丰收组织”。
"Japan every year throws away about 20 million tons of food, worldwide food aid is only about 8.5 million tons. So over two and a half times the food that is delivered in the form of aid, is actually thrown away here in Japan. But at the same time, there is virtually no infrastructure in place within Japan to get those tons of food out to individuals out there who need it," he said.
他说：“日本每年扔掉大约两千万吨食品，而全世界的食品援助每年总共才850万吨。因此，在日本扔掉的食品相当于世界食品援助总量的两倍半，而日本几乎没有任何机制把这些食品收集起来，送到需要的人那里。”
Economic downturn has political implications
Japan was hit worse than many other countries in the global financial crisis. Exports tumbled and joblessness rose to its highest levels in several years.
日本在全球金融危机中比很多国家受到的打击更严重，出口大幅度减少，失业率上升到近年来的最高水平。
Some political analysts say the unemployment and economic distress that contribute to hunger helped Japan's Democratic Party win a landslide victory in recent elections.
一些政治分析人士说，失业和经济衰退加剧了饥饿现象，致使日本的民主党在最近的选举中以压倒优势获胜。
Jeff Kingston, Asia studies professor at the Tokyo campus of Temple University, says many voters blamed the defeated Liberal Democratic Party for the nation's stagnant growth.
美国天普大学东京分院的亚洲研究教授金斯顿说，很多选民指责败选的自民党为日本经济的停滞不前负有责任。
""There is a strong sense of disquiet, I think perhaps among some there is a sense of betrayal, the social contract has been sundered," he said. "I think in Japan there was a collective identity as a society where everyone is middle class, everybody shares the same fate, there are not huge, wide disparities of income. That myth has taken a pummeling in the past few years."
金斯顿说：“人们有强烈的不满情绪。我想，一些人感到受了欺骗，社会契约支离破碎。我认为，日本是一个有集体意识的社会，所有人都是中产阶级，大家的命运休戚相关，收入没有巨大的差距。有这种想法的人最近几年急剧减少。”
The Democratic Party, which will form a government later this month, pledges to help Japan's poor. During the campaign, the DPJ promised monthly stipends of around $260 to families for each child attending primary school.
将在9月底之前组建政府的日本民主党承诺将帮助穷人。民主党在竞选期间承诺，将对有上小学子女的家庭每个孩子每月补助大约260美元。
Denial of poverty
But Second Harvest's McJilton says that if hunger is going to be resolved, it will take more than new government initiatives. He says throughout Japan, there is a denial that poverty is a problem.
不过，“第二丰收组织”的麦克吉尔顿说，要想解决饥饿问题，仅靠政府的几项行动计划远远不够。他说，日本上下几乎都不承认有贫困问题。
"Poverty or hunger are things that exist in different countries, not here in Japan. And even among those that quote, unquote may be hungry or poor, it's quite often viewed as 'they deserved it, they are not hard workers, it's not my problem,'" he said.
麦克吉尔顿说：“就好像贫困或饥饿是存在于其它国家的事情。日本不在其列似的。即使一些人承认有人可能挨饿或贫困，他们也通常认为那些人应该如此，因为他们没有努力工作，所以不是我的问题。”
McJilton says since the downturn began, the number of their Tokyo clients has doubled. Second Harvest has also received more requests from around the country to dispatch food to shelters and other charities.
麦克吉尔顿说，自从经济滑坡开始以来，在东京要求他们帮助的人数翻了一番。“第二丰收组织”也从日本各地救援庇护机构和其它慈善机构收到更多要求提供食品的请求。
And they might get even busier.
他们可能会更加繁忙。
Though Japan is now showing signs of economic recovery, economists say the long-term forecast remains unclear, as exports remain weak.
虽然日本开始出现经济复苏的迹象，但是经济学家说，出口仍然疲软，长期经济展望仍不明朗。 |