At any given moment of the day, Yumeno Nito, founder of Colabo, and her partner Inaba-san may be found quietly doing the work in Japan that few people wish to do. Late at night, they might be patrolling the streets of Shibuya, looking for girls who have run away from abuse or neglect at home, only to find themselves in another vulnerable situation as potential prey for those who would seek to use them for financial gain or more abuse. During the day, they might be teaching girls they have rescued how to cook and take care of themselves, or encouraging them to stay in school so they can get good employment, or counseling them through their many emotional wounds. On top of this, Yumeno spends a great deal of time speaking at various events and venues across Japan, spreading the message that the issues young people, especially girls, are facing are real and growing, though little help is available through the government or even other organizations. She spends countless hours raising money to buy or rent apartments for the rescued girls to live in, money for food and necessities, money for education and counseling sessions.

Once or twice a year, my friend Sheila Cliffe and I, along with others who care deeply about this problem, volunteer to help with events Colabo sponsors. Sheila dresses the girls in kimono or yukata for Coming of Age day or summer festivals respectively, and I take portraits of them. Many of these girls don’t know what it feels like to be treated as someone special, to be dressed like a princess and fawned over. They don’t know how to act in that situation. Most shy away from the camera. Some hide their faces, turning away or hiding behind their hair. But we make them as comfortable as possible and give them photos that can become happy memories of lives that are often filled with only sad or hurtful experiences.

I hesitated for a very long time to write this post because I don’t want this to be about me. What we are doing is a tiny part of what Colabo is doing for these girls as a whole, so insignificant I would hardly mention it if only to explain the connection I have to Colabo. But the fact is, Colabo is doing such important work in Japan, Nito-san and Inaba-san need to be recognized for it.

I’ve known about and worked with Colabo for almost two years, though Yumeno founded the organization years before that. It is only recently that they were able to rent an apartment as a safehouse for a few girls, and very recently they were able to purchase another unit. But the fact of the matter is that there are hundreds if not thousands of young people, girls and boys, in vulnerable situations all over Japan, and nobody is paying attention to the problem. Sure, the government should have a better infrastructure for finding and supporting children like this. And yes, more non-profit organizations should step up to do more where the government is lacking. But we the general public are not innocent in the matter either. When we see these kids hanging out on the streets late at night, in our minds we label them as “hoodlums” or “bad girls”. The reality may very well be that they have nowhere to go. That karaoke rooms or convenience stores might be the only places to keep them from freezing at night. That going to a stranger’s home or hotel room might at least mean a warm bed and a free meal.

It breaks my heart to have to write this, knowing that many of Japan’s children, precious and critical to the survival of the country, are suffering neglect not just at the hands of their parents, but at the hands of society as a whole. Society chooses the easy road: blaming the victims for their circumstances. In this way, they can ignore the problem.

I thank God for organizations like Colabo and selfless individuals like Nito-san and Inaba-san who give their lives for the cause, but the number of resources working on behalf of the children pale in comparison to the number of children who need help.

It would be easy to throw up your hands and say “What can I do as an individual person?” Perhaps you don’t even live in Japan. But if you have a passion to serve the vulnerable here in Japan, you are not powerless.

Pray. The prayers of the selfless person are powerful. When we have nothing to gain for our prayers, I believe God really honors our intentions. Prayers sustain those who have little to hope for, so let’s pray for God to bring hope into the lives of these vulnerable young people, to restrain them from doing the unthinkable.

Learn. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can learn about this topic because it isn’t well recognized as a societal problem in Japan. Yumeno is working hard to change that by speaking on the topic to as many people as possible as often as possible. But there are a few articles online you can research to help you understand the problem. In many ways, this problem isn’t unique to Japan except that the lack of response by the government and other organizations to it is deafening.

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160816/p2a/00m/0na/009000c

https://thelily.com/a-culture-of-dates-in-japan-targets-vulnerable-high-school-girls-2ca321875684

Give. As long as there are so few organizations working against this issue, Colabo will always need as much support as possible to fund new safehouses for girls, pay more staff to help, and make themselves into an organization that the government cannot ignore. As long as they are small scale, the government can pretend they aren’t important. But as they grow, they become a force for change, a voice for the powerless.

You can donate to Colabo by credit card or purchasing Amazon goods here:

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God bless those like Yumeno and Inaba-san who are doing the difficult, thankless work down in the trenches, helping people who would otherwise be ignored or even despised by society. Though they are not “Christians” in the traditional sense of the word, they are doing the work Jesus instructed us to do and demonstrated through his life here on earth.