Recently the Franciscan Chapel Center, whose volunteer groups are active in many areas of need in our community, has provided a considerable amount of information for this column. Among them are columns that have dealt with providing rice balls for the homeless, exposed Japan as the leading source of child pornography and wrote of visits to foreigners in detention centers. Now, along with a number of other concerned groups, FCC volunteers are asking for your help in moving forward a proposed bill in the Diet by signing a petition, one that asks for immediate passage of a bill that has been proposed to end child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking in children for sexual purposes. Please act now if you can add your support. March 15 is the date when petitions will be collected.

To obtain a copy of the petition, call the FCC at (03) 3401-2141 or fax (03) 3401-2142 and ask to have one mailed or faxed to you, or stop at the center, located near Roppongi, and sign one there. You could also pick up an extra copy for your friends to sign. Do what you can to help.

Those working on the project had hoped for an early passage of the bill, but the Diet has many concerns at this time and it appears that deliberation on this legislation has been sidelined by other pending bills. They are appealing to everyone living in Japan to support this cause. The petition states in part, "Given the degree to which untold suffering is being wrought upon children's lives by child prostitution, and the degree to which pornographic materials are proliferating, as well as Japan's reported status as the largest exporter of child pornography in the world, it is only right for the National Diet to take action."

There are many problems. We all have them, but some people seem to collect more than their share. Today we will consider a woman who is suffering not only from schizophrenia but also has frequent asthmatic attacks. Respiratory ailments are endemic in Japan and soon we will be entering another pollen season that causes even more distress. Unless the condition is life-threatening, most people manage to get by with the medications provided by their doctor and hope things will be better when the next season arrives.

She does not ask for help concerning the asthma. What she would like to have is a column dealing with the treatment of mental illness in Japan. Since she is fluent in Japanese she is spared the language barrier but she confides that she still has a hard time with the medical bureaucracy.

Although medical questions fill a large portion of my files, I have not received this request before, so perhaps people with such problems return to their home countries for help. As she has learned, the outlook is far from encouraging here and choices are limited. Part of the problem is that many doctors trained in Japan are often at a loss when it comes to treating foreigners whose problems and responses can baffle a doctor experienced in helping only Japanese patients.

She probably already knows what I would suggest. It is a two-step approach. Step one would be calling the Tokyo English Life Line, (03) 3968-4099. I write this because there may be readers with other problems who will benefit from discussing them with TELL's trained telephone counselors. In her case, they will probably refer her to step two, the Community Counseling Service, which operates within the same organization. So she should start there by phoning (03) 3968-4084. In addition to those directly connected with CCS, there is a large network of experts in many fields that can be contacted through this office. For example, there are several Japanese psychiatrists who have also practiced in the United States.

Her problems are complicated by the fact that she feels for both employment and personal reasons it is necessary for her and her husband to stay in Japan, while for physical and mental reasons it might be preferable to leave.

I hope she can find appropriate help. She may have to consider changing what she sees now as her lifestyle, including where she lives. The options for treatment might be much broader in her home country, and may include alternative medicine, diet therapy and greater rapport between patient and doctor.

Write to Jean Pearce c/o The Japan Times, Tokyo 108-0023, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope.