Many Japanese hotels and universities offer free housing for foreigners in Japan, who were unable to leave this country, because their countries closed their borders because of the Corona virus pandemic, which prompted many Japanese hotels to provide assistance to foreigners who were forced to stay in Japan, and did not have Sufficient funds during the interstate border closure period. The Kaname In Tatemachi Hotel, located in the Kanazawa region, which is very popular with tourists, in Ishikawa Prefecture, took bank loans of 80 million yen ($ 742,000) to provide assistance to those people in extremely difficult conditions in these unprecedented conditions. The hotel administration said it hoped to "return the money that these foreigners paid to the hotel when they came to Japan for tourism in the country and sightseeing."

Initially, this hotel offered a free stay for a Dutch tourist at the end of March, after which the hotel received an increasing number of requests from many tourists and foreign students to stay for free.

50 groups

By mid-May, about 50 groups of foreigners, including the Argentine couple, German Colodro, 31, and Cecilia Citra, 29, who had been staying at the hotel since May 6, contacted the hotel.

After arriving in Japan last September and obtaining a work permit valid for one year, the Argentine couple worked in Nagano Prefecture until the employer asked them to leave because of the Corona pandemic. The couple managed to find a new job in Okinawa resort, but lost it because there were not enough tourists as a result of the epidemic.

Unable to return to their homeland, the couple eventually managed to secure a place to stay in a hotel in the Kanazawa region, after the Argentine embassy intervened. Colodro says finding the hotel was a stroke of luck, but he remains concerned about how long they can stay, given that they have nowhere else to stay. Citra said she and Colodro are lucky that their residency is still valid for another four months, but she made it clear that there were many foreigners present in Japan even though their stay had ended.

However, Japanese immigration services said at the beginning of April that they would set a deadline for foreigners to renew their residency in order to reduce overcrowding in immigration centers. This measure aims to assist foreign residents of the country, as well as people who have been tourism in Japan for a short period.

A room for rescue

Given these difficult circumstances facing foreign residents in Japan, the director of the Slackide Company, Hiroshi Hosukawa, which operates the Kanazawa Hotel, decided to launch a campaign called "a room for rescue", which aims to invite hotel owners to provide free accommodation for those who need Foreign residents. So far, three hotels operated by two companies in Tokyo have participated in this campaign. "There must be a lot of foreigners in Japan living in difficult conditions, because of their lack of money and the lack of a place to live," Hosokawa said. I believe that the government should contribute to this campaign effectively. But I will do everything I can to alleviate the hardships of these people. ”

The Kanazawa Hotel plans to continue providing free services to those in need of foreign residents in Japan, until a solution to this problem is found.

At the same time, Osaka University in western Japan offers free accommodation to three foreign students and several researchers in the university's city of residence, so that their country can lift the closure imposed on its borders. "When I was studying abroad, especially when I was in high school, a lot of people gave me a hand," said Shikako Sakiyama, a researcher at the government-run Nuclear Physics Center at the University of Osaka, which started a campaign to help foreigners. "It is natural that we help each other in difficult times."

- The director of Slackide, Hiroshi Hosukawa, which operates the Kanazawa area hotel, has decided to start a campaign called "a room for rescue", to invite hotel owners to provide free accommodation for those in need of foreign residents.

- Many Japanese hotels provide assistance to foreigners who have been forced to stay in Japan, and do not have enough money during the border closure period between countries.

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