TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A pink, flower-patterned bus has been used as a shelter from sexual exploitation for teenage girls hanging out in the entertainment areas of Japan's capital at night, local media reported Saturday.
According to Kyodo News, a bus named Tsubomi Cafe, which made its first appearance on Oct. 17 in Tokyo's biggest amusement district Kabukicho in Shinjuku ward, provides support to vulnerable schoolgirls who are wandering the streets at night.
The bus, which will park once a week in Shinjuku or Shibuya wards, offers free meals, drinks, clothes, as well as advice to those girls facing difficulty at home and school.
A total of 15 girls had visited the bus by 10 p.m. local time (GMT 1300) on Oct.17. They ate, chatted and confessed their worries to the staff on the bus.
Many of those teenage girls are neglected by their parents due to poverty or are victims of abuse, said Yumeno Nito, representative of the civic group Colabo which is behind the nighttime bus service.
"Girls go out on the streets at night because they do not have a place to call home due to abuse or to make money to finance their school trips and school meals," Nito, who is 28, said.
"Some girls seem to feel uncomfortable receiving public aid as they distrust adults, so we are the ones who should try to go out to see and talk to them," Nito said.
"I hope (the bus) will be a place where girls can relax, feel at ease and hang out as they are," she said.
The nighttime bus service is part of a joint program by the central government and the Tokyo metropolitan government to support young vulnerable women.
