Period poverty under scrutiny in Japan as women campaign to reduce one-sided cost burden
February 14, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
Various types of feminine hygiene products are lined up in a store in Tokyo on Feb. 5, 2021. (Mainichi/Miyuki Fujisawa) TOKYO Recently, we ve been coming across more and more stories about menstruation. A Japanese manga on the subject, Seiri-chan, or Ms. Period, became a hit and was made into a 2019 movie starring popular actors. TV personalities even talk cheerfully about menstruation on special TV shows. But at the same time, there are reportedly people who cannot afford the high cost of feminine hygiene products, despite them being an absolute essential for women who menstruate. The Mainichi Shimbun spoke to one organization working to ease the burden of buying sanitary products, and heard about the messages they received from desperate people struggling under the current situation.