Living in the world's second largest economy, it's often tempting to forget that there are people and organizations in Japan in dire need of help.
Complex regulations and red tape that restrict day-to-day operations, meager government funding, and threadbare resources often leave many groups that help others in need of help themselves.
Most nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations are small and staffed by just a few volunteers; the average number of full-time staff for Japan's around 90,000 NPOs and NGOs is 1.3 people.