Abused children find little shelter as Japan lags behind

Pressure grows for upgrade to 'harrowing' housing facilities

TOKYO - Every year, more than 20,000 abused, delinquent, developmentally challenged or otherwise troubled Japanese children needing emergency housing pass through a system of shelters.

But the conditions inside many of them are so regimented that the children can find the experience harrowing, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who have stayed or worked in the facilities, as well as child psychology experts familiar with the system.