According to the 2024 Survey on Okinawa’s Children, the poverty rate, driven by high commodity prices, dropped from 29.9% 10 years ago to 21.8%, with almost 60% in child poverty claiming “We can’t even buy food”. (29my25)

Splendor of Okinawa: Gushikawa RC Church, 18my25.


On 26 May, Okinawa Prefecture publicly released the report on its Survey on Okinawa’s Children for 2024, making it the 10th such, carried out yearly to take effective counter measures against child poverty. The 2015 poverty rate stood at 29.9%. In the 10 years since then, it fell gradually to 21.8%, but still remains over 20%.


In this survey, the effectiveness of health support and the school attendance support system were evaluated. The “experience of an inability to purchase food” increased from 2015. In the rate of poverty especially, that  increase was obvious. The rise in the high price of commodities cast its shadow over assistance.


As for experience of the inability to buy food, in the 2015 survey of care providers of 2nd year junior high children in poverty, the total answering “often”, “sometimes”, and “rarely” was 48.7%. However, it rose to 58.2% in 2024. Even among the non-poor, it increased by 1 point from 20.9%


Facing this report, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki responded, “We have sincerely listened to these earnest voices. We will comprehensively aid  child rearing families to help them live well. Moreover, we will proceed in the realization of a society where nobody is left behind.” He further showed his intention of continuing to strengthen measures to prevent child poverty.


The target of this survey was junior high school students and their care-givers. For the report documents, the value of their disposable income was estimated from family income, number of members, and other factors, with 1,340,000 yen as the poverty line.  In the case of a family of 4, the poverty group (or low income group)  under the poverty line, the yearly income would be no more than 2,600,000 yen.


Along with the systematic employment of parents, the rate of regular employment tended to increase and so increase family income. In spite of that, the harshness of daily life with responses, such as “I feel overwhelmed”, increased to 58.3%. It was surmised that the low income group suffered comparatively more from the impact of high commodity prices.


On the other hand, “In the past year, children who had not received even a medical examination” dropped from 17.9% in 2021 to 14.2% in 2024. The lower the income group, the greater was the breadth of that rate reduction. This seems to be the effect of the  Prefecture’s widening of its target for medical expense aid from preschoolers through to all junior high students However,  a large proportion gave as the reason for the lack of medical examinations as, “Because of work. we had no time to take our kids to them.”


The survey last September distributed survey sheets through the schools to a total of 8864 households. The rate of valid responses from children was 64.2% and for their care-givers 62.2%.　


Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Monday 26 May 2025 at 17:21.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/68633ddbfa92fd49082339819e26ee5f55445643


Denny in the News:

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 


This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 


Any suggestion on improving the translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.


Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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