Japan Press Weekly

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2016 August 24 - 30 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Youth group counters ‘poor-bashing’ talk

A youth group working for higher minimum wages on the evening of August 27 held a demonstration in Tokyo to counter unfair criticism of the poor.

The group, named AEQUITAS, organized the action as a high school girl was bashed on the Internet after appearing in a TV documentary program dealing with poverty issues.

In the program, the student talked about how harsh her economic conditions are. However, soon after the broadcast, some people on the web unjustly accused her of pretending to be poor on the grounds that photos on her SNS accounts show that she has a smartphone and sometimes eats out. These poor-bashing posts went viral. Katayama Satsuki, a Liberal Democratic Party parliamentarian, on her Twitter account wrote that the high school student can afford to buy all necessities if she stops wasting money on luxuries.

At a rally held prior to the demonstration, a university student, who is a member of AEQUITAS, said, “I’m angry about the fact that the LDP lawmaker took advantage of the Internet rumor to unfairly criticize the struggling high school student. Let’s show the politician how many people are angry at her tweet.”

One of the participants, a 26-year-old man, pointed out that poverty takes various forms. He stressed that those who bashed the high school girl should learn more about the reality of poor people.

On the next day, similar actions were also held in Nagoya and Kyoto cities.

Past related articles:
> Labor ministry council begins discussing minimum wage hike [June 16, 2016]
> Eliminate poverty by raising minimum wages: union workers [March 10, 2016]