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NPO

VR photography exhibit held in virtual reality by Japan’s Virtual Rights organization

VR event was a virtual feast for the eyes.

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Japanese teams use orange flags as a tsunami alert signal for swimmers and surfers

The new orange flag warning system aims to help those at sea become aware of an earthquake or tsunami before it’s too late.

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Non-profit organization creates database to reunite lost video games with their original owners

Overseas shopping trip leads to creation of Japanese NPO that deeply respects the sentimental value of old-school video games.

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Happy news: Japanese NPO ships “poop protectors” to save swallow nests in train stations 【Pics】

Just think of it as a very special – and very stinky – welcome mat.

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Toyota shares its creative thinking to help charities become significantly more efficient

Over a year and a half after Hurricane Sandy ravaged New England, some people are still without permanent housing. The poorest populations in New York have been impacted the most, dependent on aid long after the rest of the city moved on. Several major companies got together to assist in the effort for aid, but Toyota had a novel contribution: efficiency.

Toyota sent experts to New York for eight weeks to help Food Bank of New York’s partner organization, Metro World Child, improve their methods, thereby helping to get food donations to as many people as possible using as few labor hours as possible. The improvements meant that the same resources were used to provide food to more families faster.

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Nagoya NPO releases survival guide for hikikomori for when their parents are gone

The social phenomenon of hikikomori, where people are compelled to remain confined in their own homes, is not new anymore. What is new, however, is the looming issue of what happens when a hikikomori’s parents become elderly or die.

Recently a scattering of cases has begun involving people who have filed for government support after their parents have died. And with estimates of the hikikomori population hovering around one million in Japan, experts are suggesting this is just the tip of the impending iceberg.

One group called Nadeshiko No Kai out of Nagoya is looking to take the bull by the horns and is nearly ready to issue a manual – the first of its kind – for hikikomori to aid them in becoming independent once their parents are no longer able to help.

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Japan’s abandoned bicycles find new homes in developing countries, helping save lives

In Japan, countless numbers of bicycles are abandoned outside stations and on roadsides each year. While many will be turned into scrap metal and recycled, a percentage that are still deemed functional after a few repairs are being put to effective use as a mode of transport for nurses and midwives in developing countries like Ghana.

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