When Ayumi lost her part-time job at a restaurant last summer, she ended up relying on rice and prepackaged fare delivered once a month by a food bank to her college campus in Tokyo.
"I cut my meals to once a day, in mid-afternoon," the 22-year-old said. "Many friends were in the same boat — they worked at eateries that were hit because of the coronavirus."
As job losses surge due to the pandemic, demand for food handouts has skyrocketed in Japan, prompting the government to release stockpiled rice to charities for the first time last May. Another expanded program started this month.
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