Most Japanese teens have little exposure to issues of worldwide poverty or the volunteerism that seeks to end it.
Unlike in the United States and Europe, where youths are introduced to volunteerism at a fairly young age, children here rarely have the opportunity to do volunteer work at school or in their local communities.
Free The Children Japan is trying to change that. Started in 1999, the group is an offshoot of the nonprofit founded in 1995 in Canada by 12-year-old Craig Kielburger.