Poverty In Japan?

See [this].

When we think of Japan, we think of its technologies, its creative people, its delicious food, its interesting culture, and pretty much everything representing a strong and proud nation.
But what do we have here...?

Of all the words, these appeal to me the most: "Experts and social workers say Japan’s poor can be deceptively hard to spot because they try hard to keep up the appearance of middle class comfort."
Try hard? Appearance?? It sounds all too familiar.

Another part: "Gaining wide attention here are statistics showing that one in seven children lives in poverty, one reason the new government has pledged to offer monthly payments of $270 per child and to cut the cost of high school education. Still, social workers say they fear that the poor will not be able to pay for cram schools and other expenses to enable their children to compete in Japan’s high-pressure education system, consigning them to a permanent cycle of low-wage work."
It's no fun to be a child with this burden to bear. This you-must-study-hard-so-that-you-can-get-a-good-job system in Japan is just saddening.

And this: "Ms. Sato expressed similar fears for her daughter, Mayu. Mayu wants to go to a vocational school to become a voice actress for animation, but Ms. Sato said she could not afford the $10,000 annual tuition."
Needless to say. We all know Japan is darn famous for its anime. But who on earth would expect to have to pay $10,000 per year just to learn how to use one's voice to act in anime?! I sure wouldn't expect so.

Painful.
This is a painful world we're living in. In many senses.