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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the visibility and invisibility of child poverty in contemporary Japan from the perspective of children themselves, focusing on two junior high school students from the author's participant observation in child poverty support activities in Sendai City.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will explore child poverty in contemporary Japan, from the perspective of children themselves. In prior research, it has been said that child poverty in Japan is invisible. However, it is often unclear whose perspective is being considered when exploring the visibility of child poverty. This paper starts from children themselves, before examining how child poverty in contemporary Japan is made invisible or visible from other perspectives, such as those of policies and systems, non-participants, and supporters.

I will focus on the case of two junior high school students from my participant observation in child poverty support activities provided by a non-profit organisation in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The first case is a child who, at first glance, does not appear to be facing poverty, but has family troubles and financial problems in choosing a career path. Although he joins in club activities and attends cram school, he has only been able to do these activities with significant welfare support. His own vulnerability has not been resolved. The second case is a child who is spatially made invisible, having experienced temporary protection and attended alternative classroom in his school due to family problems and non-attendance. He is connected to multiple support structures, but those are invisible to each other. This has made his situation invisible. The two cases reveal that problems emerge in private rather than public spaces, that welfare support can paradoxically make poverty invisible, and that children focus on their relationships with those around them more than economic rationality.