The Children and Families Agency is looking to help local governments establish temporary shelters for young people running away from home due to abuse and other reasons.

The agency has launched a project offering subsidies to prefectures and ordinance-designated major cities that set up runaway shelters.

Such efforts are expected to help many young people, including those who gather in the Toyoko area of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward and other downtown areas around the country.