• A team of volunteers go about setting up Tsubomi Cafe, a sanctuary for teen runaway girls and those roaming the streets — many of whom face the risk of sexual exploitation — where they can go to have positive interactions with adults, on Dec. 12 in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. | SATOKO KAWASAKI
    A team of volunteers go about setting up Tsubomi Cafe, a sanctuary for teen runaway girls and those roaming the streets — many of whom face the risk of sexual exploitation — where they can go to have positive interactions with adults, on Dec. 12 in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. | SATOKO KAWASAKI
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Unmistakable for its exterior splashed with illustrations of colorful flowers, a bright pink bus glows at a Shibuya park one December evening, its dazzling design standing out as the darkness of the night sets in.

Set up nearby are three pink tents. Once inside, visitors are greeted with everything from hot meals to manga, as well as an array of daily necessities — clothes, toothbrushes, menstrual products and even condoms — which guests at this makeshift “bus cafe” are welcome to take home for free.

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