Donations made last year by readers of The Japan Times have been used to help asylum-seekers start a new life in Japan, to support the empowerment of female Syrian refugees, to offer basic education to children in the Philippines and to preserve Laotian forests.
In 2016, The Japan Times Readers' Fund received ¥824,379, which was sent to four charity groups in Japan and the Philippines.
One of the groups was Japan Association for Refugees (JAR), a nonprofit based in Tokyo. The group used its ¥206,095 donation to support 13 asylum-seekers from six countries.