Our Dream is for Us to Become Unnecessary. #AprilDream
General Incorporated Association Zenkoku Dokodemo Kodomo Shokudo participated in 'April Dream,' proclaiming their dream of realizing a society where 'Dokodemo Kodomo Shokudo is no longer needed.' This initiative addresses the severe social issue where approximately one in nine children in Japan live in poverty, aiming to resolve not only economic hardship but also the 'poverty of connection'—where children lack trusted adults—to foster a society where children can safely choose their meals and develop the strength to live.
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- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 16:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 08:05
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 21, 2026 at 13:22 (485h 16m after Collected)
Our organization supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day to share dreams. This press release is the dream of "General Incorporated Association Zenkoku Dokodemo Kodomo Shokudo."
General Incorporated Association Zenkoku Dokodemo Kodomo Shokudo (Location: Tennoji-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture; Representative Director: Shinobu Iwaasa) will participate in "April Dream" on April 1, 2026. Our dream is to realize "a society where Dokodemo Kodomo Shokudo becomes unnecessary."
A Summer Afternoon
The refrigerator at home was almost empty.
The child knew it.
Because they knew, they said nothing.
Their mother had gone to work in the morning.
She would return late at night.
The child always silently resolved lunch on their own.
If there was bread, they ate bread.
If not, they drank water and waited for their stomach to stop rumbling.
That was their summer.
Then, one day, a meal ticket for 3,000 yen per month arrived.
The day they first went to a diner with a support worker.
When handed the menu, the child, as always, scanned the edges of the pages.
As if looking for the cheapest item.
A large serving was never even considered.
They had never ordered it, nor had they ever thought of ordering it.
"You can choose anything you like,"
When the support worker said that, there was a brief pause.
The child slowly, just slightly, moved their hand—
Opened the middle page of the menu,
And apologetically pointed.
A large serving of fried chicken set meal.
That was all it was.
But that was everything.
Approximately one in nine children in Japan are in a state of "poverty."
But the real problem is not just money.
There are no reliable adults.
They don't know how to say "help me."
They don't even think they deserve to be helped.
We call this "poverty of connection."
Something lost before money. That takes away the very power to live.
Some children can eat on weekdays when school lunch is provided, but have nothing to eat on Saturdays.
Many of them are in isolated households.
