​Australian Filmmaker Shows Japanese Single Mothers, Children Face Poverty

Australian Filmmaker Shows Japanese Single Mothers, Children Face Poverty

澳大利亚电影制片人展示日本单亲妈妈和孩子面临贫困的情况

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　　By Faith Pirlo

　　01 February 2024

　　In wealthy countries, like Japan, poverty is sometimes considered a taboo subject. But an Australian filmmaker, Rionne McAvoy, wants to share the stories of women and children in poverty in Japan in his documentary film The Ones Left Behind.

　　The film was released last year. It shows single mothers raising their children in poverty. The women work hard. They sleep a few hours at night. And they try to balance working with childcare and housework.

　　McAvoy said he wanted to deal with a topic that no one wanted to discuss. The film shows discussions with poor women and experts on poverty. He said the film also shows a different side of Japanese society, where getting married and becoming a stay-at-home mother is normal for many women.

　　"In Japan, it's very taboo. I think it's a very apt title because I feel that single mothers and their children have really been left behind in society."

　　The film shows one woman who works almost twelve hours a day and earns less than $1,350 a month. That amount is low for a county where the cost of living is high. Monthly rent for one small room can cost one third of that amount.

　　Tomiko Nakayama is one of the women in the film. She said, "I have to do everything on my own." Another woman almost cries when she describes how her child stopped asking her to come to "take-your-parent-to-school" days.

　　Japan has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty although it is one of the wealthiest nations. One in seven children live in poverty in Japan. Almost half of single-parent homes are considered poor.

　　Japanese society often favors men who work full-time. Women sometimes receive lower pay and fewer benefits than their male counterparts, while working full-time and overtime.

　　Ayuri McAvoy produced the film and is also McAvoy's wife. She was formerly a single mother. But they say that is not why they made the film.

　　Rionne McAvoy said that the country's traditional culture makes women accept their difficult lives and makes them ashamed to ask for help. He told the Associated Press that the women are "keeping their public face and private face separate."

　　Akihiko Kato is a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo. He appears in the film. Kato said that Japan does not have a system to legally force fathers to pay for their children if the parents are separated. The Japanese government has promised to give money to people with children, but this is slow to come, he said.

　　Kato said that this is partly why birth rates in Japan have been so low. There were 1.2 million births in the year 2000 compared to fewer than 800,000 births in 2022.

　　Some people believe the modern idea of the nuclear family means that single parents, mostly mothers, have to do everything on their own. People like grandparents, neighbors and extended family members no longer seem to be able to help with children.

　　Yanfei Zhou is a social science professor at Japan Women's University in Tokyo who also appears in the film. She said that these changes have serious effects on children. The divide between rich and poor is growing, and children will end up in poverty, she said.

　　The film won the Best Documentary prize at the Miyakojima Charity International Film Festival last year. It was also officially chosen for the Yokohama International Film Festival.

　　McAvoy said he has long been interested in telling the story of those who society had forgotten and who do not have a voice. He said that being on the outside of Japanese culture has helped him to share stories with a new viewpoint and without bias. He said his next film will be about young people dying by suicide in Japan.

　　McAvoy said, "It's one thing we can do more of in society: to try recognize people's cries for help."

　　I'm Faith Pirlo. And I'm Andrew Smith.

　　Yuri Kageyama reported this story for the Associated Press. Faith Pirlo adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Faith Pirlo

　　2024年2月1日

　　在像日本这样的富裕国家，贫困有时被视为一个禁忌话题。但是澳大利亚电影制片人Rionne McAvoy想在他的纪录片《被遗忘的人》中分享日本贫困妇女和儿童的故事。

　　这部电影于去年发布。它展示了单亲妈妈在贫困中抚养孩子的情况。这些女性努力工作。她们每晚只睡几个小时。并且她们试图在工作、照顾孩子和家务之间找到平衡。

　　McAvoy表示，他想要处理一个没有人愿意讨论的话题。这部电影展示了与贫困妇女和贫困专家的讨论。他说，这部电影还展示了日本社会的另一面，那里许多女性结婚并成为全职妈妈是正常的。

　　"在日本，这是非常禁忌的。我认为这是一个非常贴切的标题，因为我觉得单亲妈妈和她们的孩子在社会上真的被遗忘了。"

　　电影中展示了一位每天工作近十二个小时，月收入不到1350美元的女性。对于生活成本高昂的国家来说，这个金额很低。一个小房间的月租金可能会占到这个金额的三分之一。

　　电影中的一位女性Tomiko Nakayama说：“我必须自己做所有的事情。”另一位女性在描述她的孩子如何停止要求她参加“带父母去学校”的日子时，几乎要哭出来。

　　尽管日本是世界上最富有的国家之一，但它的儿童贫困率却是最高的。在日本，每七个孩子中就有一个生活在贫困中。几乎一半的单亲家庭被认为是贫困的。

　　日本社会通常偏爱全职工作的男性。女性有时会比男性同事得到更低的薪水和更少的福利，同时全职工作和加班。

　　Ayuri McAvoy是这部电影的制片人，也是McAvoy的妻子。她以前是一个单亲妈妈。但他们说，这并不是他们制作这部电影的原因。

　　Rionne McAvoy表示，该国的传统文化使女性接受了他们艰难的生活，并使她们感到羞愧去寻求帮助。他告诉美联社，这些女性“保持着公共面孔和私人面孔的分离。”

　　东京明治大学的教授Akihiko Kato出现在电影中。Kato表示，日本没有一个系统可以在父母分居的情况下，法律强制父亲支付孩子的费用。他说，日本政府已经承诺给有孩子的人提供资金，但这个过程很慢。

　　Kato表示，这部分是日本出生率如此低的原因。2000年有120万出生，而2022年的出生人数不到80万。

　　有些人认为，现代的核心家庭观念意味着单亲家长，主要是母亲，必须自己做所有的事情。像祖父母、邻居和扩大家庭成员这样的人似乎不再能够帮助照顾孩子。

　　在电影中出现的东京日本女子大学的社会科学教授Yanfei Zhou表示，这些变化对孩子们有严重的影响。她说，贫富差距正在扩大，孩子们最终会陷入贫困。

　　这部电影在去年的宫古岛慈善国际电影节上获得了最佳纪录片奖。它也被正式选为横滨国际电影节。

　　McAvoy表示，他一直对讲述那些被社会遗忘和没有发言权的人的故事感兴趣。他说，作为日本文化的外部人，帮助他以新的视角和无偏见的方式分享故事。他说他的下一部电影将讲述日本年轻人自杀的问题。

　　McAvoy说：“我们在社会上可以做更多的一件事就是：试图认识到人们的求助呼声。”

　　我是Faith Pirlo。我是Andrew Smith。

　　Yuri Kageyama为美联社报道了这个故事。Faith Pirlo为VOA学习英语改编了它。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　taboo – n. 不可谈论或做的事情

　　topic –n.写作或讨论的主题

　　society –n.在同一规则、传统和价值观下生活在一个大区域的人们

　　apt – adj. 有可能做某事

　　rent – n. 对财产使用的定期支付，如租用公寓或住宅的地方

　　ashamed – adj.对自己所做的事情感到后悔和尴尬

　　nuclear families – n.由父母和他们的孩子组成的家庭，住在一个家里

　　bias – n. 倾向于支持一个论点而不是另一个的倾向