A major city on the island of Shikoku initially excluded people with no bank accounts from the blanket cash handout program as part of the central government's coronavirus response, assuming that most such citizens belong to organized crime groups.
The Kochi Municipal Government's handling in May of the across-the-board handouts may have deprived homeless people and recipients of welfare payments who do not have identity documents needed to open accounts of receiving ¥100,000 ($920) per person, their supporters said.
The local authorities opened a special counter last month for impoverished people so they could receive the money earlier than others. But they did not prepare a space on the application form about how to receive the cash other than a bank transfer.