Executive committee members, including lawyer Tadashi Inomata, left, appeal to people to make consultation calls even if their cell phones are blocked, at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

       TOKYO -- Lawyers and labor union members will hold a national telephone counseling session on Dec. 18 for people placed in need by the coronavirus pandemic. Callers whose cell phones have been blocked can also phone the session from areas with free Wi-Fi.

       The consultation service is organized by the executive committee of the "phone consultations on anything to overcome the coronavirus pandemic and protect lives and livelihoods." It holds telephone consultations every two months using a toll-free number to make it easier for people in need to seek help.

       After members discovered some people unable to pay their cell phone bills could not call them, they introduced a system accepting calls from cell phones accessing free Wi-Fi. The system was trialed at the last consultation meeting in October and received desperate inquiries, and it will be introduced at 18 venues for the nationwide simultaneous consultation held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 18.

       Lawyer and executive committee member Tadashi Inomata said, "Soup kitchen lines are getting longer. Through our daily counseling activities, we can see that even though infections have decreased dramatically, the harsh living conditions remain unchanged. There are more and more people who can't get by, including by having their cell phone services terminated."

       The consultation service is available to call at 0120-157930 (in Japanese). Individuals with blocked cell phones can make a consultation call from locations with free Wi-Fi by entering their regional ID (1218tok for Tokyo) at https://pub.oden.works/#/.

       (Japanese original by Satoshi Tokairin, Tokyo City News Department)

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