Last month, the new governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, announced his plan to shut down and sell or privatize 25 public facilities in a bid to tackle the prefecture's financial crisis. Except for two libraries, no prefectural facilities merit further public funding, argues Hashimoto. Included among the sites slated for closure is the Dawn Center, which for 14 years has been providing the citizens of Osaka and beyond with a diverse range of programs united behind a single aim: putting equality into practice.