A Tragedy around Tokyo
Today it was reported in Japan that a family starved to death in a city close to Tokyo.
A father at his 60s and a mother died with their son at his 30s in a humble apartment house. It was found that they failed to pay rent for months. Electricity and gas were stopped at the end of the last year. No foods and money except a very few coins were found in their room. It seems that both the father and the son got ill but could not commit themselves to the doctor's care. They did not even apply for welfare benefits, probably because they did not register themselves as local citizens in the city office.
In Japan, though you can receive welfare benefits from a city office if you don't register yourself in a city where you live and lose every means to earn money, some people in need cannot apply and fulfill necessary conditions. If you do not live in a place where you register yourself in a city office, it is difficult to receive various public services, including obtaining a certificate of public health insurance. But, if you are chased by some bad guys, they will find where you hide through official registration information they might obtain by any means. If you don't want to be found, you will not transfer your registration to the new city where you move and start to live.
So, if you live or hide yourself working secretly, you cannot fall into illness. Nobody will help you. In this way, 100 or so Japanese citizens are estimated to die of hunger. Indeed, in cities of Japan, you can really live alone without communications personally or publicly with anybody.
The point at issue is that this incident has become a national news item today in Japan as a symbolic case for risky modernization and urbanization of Japan.
(Unit: 10,000; Now 2,022,333 Japanese live on social welfare without jobs; The year 26 is 1951; Other years must be converted to the western calender by adding 1988, thus 7 = 1995; 23 = 2011.)
http://hotplus2011.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-78.html
http://www.city.kawasaki.jp/35/35kikaku/home/fukushi/seido/j5/j30/j35/index.html
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Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.