Families gather at a community hall where volunteers serve meals for the disadvantaged. Here and there laughter can be heard, the smiles of diners proving contagious — a scene typical at Japan's many children's cafeterias.

But with the outbreak of the new coronavirus, previously unimaginable social distancing practices have forced many such cafeterias to shutter temporarily or to look for different ways to provide their low-cost or free meals to those that need them the most, especially during the current crisis.

This cafeteria, one in the network of independent providers known as kodomo shokudō in Japan, is managed by Shoko Momma.