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In wealthy countries, like Japan, poverty is sometimes considered a taboo subject. But an Australian filmmaker, Rionne McAvoy, wants to share the stories of women and children in poverty in Japan in his documentary film The Ones Left Behind.
在像日本这样的富裕国家，贫困有时被视为一个禁忌话题。但是澳大利亚电影制片人Rionne McAvoy希望通过他的纪录片《The Ones Left Behind》分享日本贫困妇女和儿童的故事。
The film was released last year. It shows single mothers raising their children in poverty. The women work hard. They sleep a few hours at night. And they try to balance working with childcare and housework.
这部电影去年上映。它展示了贫困中单身母亲抚养子女的情景。这些女性努力工作，晚上只睡几个小时。她们努力在工作、育儿和家务之间取得平衡。
McAvoy said he wanted to deal with a topic that no one wanted to discuss. The film shows discussions with poor women and experts on poverty. He said the film also shows a different side of Japanese society, where getting married and becoming a stay-at-home mother is normal for many women.
McAvoy表示他想处理一个没有人愿意讨论的话题。影片展示了与贫困妇女和贫困专家的讨论。他说这部电影还展示了日本社会的另一面，在这里结婚并成为全职母亲对许多女性来说是正常的。
“In Japan, it's very taboo. I think it's a very apt title because I feel that single mothers and their children have really been left behind in society."
“在日本，这是非常禁忌的。我认为这是一个非常贴切的标题，因为我觉得单身母亲和她们的孩子确实在社会中被遗忘了。”
The film shows one woman who works almost twelve hours a day and earns less than $1,350 a month. That amount is low for a county where the cost of living is high. Monthly rent for one small room can cost one third of that amount.
影片中展示了一位每天工作近12小时，月收入不到1350美元的女性。在生活成本较高的国家，这个金额偏低。一个小房间的月租金可能占到这个金额的三分之一。
Tomiko Nakayama is one of the women in the film. She said, “I have to do everything on my own." Another woman almost cries when she describes how her child stopped asking her to come to “take-your-parent-to-school” days.
中山富子（Tomiko Nakayama）是影片中的一位女性。她说：“我必须自己做所有事情。”另一位女性在描述她的孩子不再要求她参加“带父母上学”的日子时几乎哭了。
Japan has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty although it is one of the wealthiest nations. One in seven children live in poverty in Japan. Almost half of single-parent homes are considered poor.
尽管日本是富裕国家之一，但它拥有较高的儿童贫困率。在日本，七分之一的儿童生活在贫困中。几乎一半的单亲家庭被视为贫困家庭。
Japanese society often favors men who work full-time. Women sometimes receive lower pay and fewer benefits than their male counterparts, while working full-time and overtime.
日本社会往往更青睐全职工作的男性。在全职和加班工作的同时，女性有时会获得较低的薪水和较少的福利。
Ayuri McAvoy produced the film and is also McAvoy’s wife. She was formerly a single mother. But they say that is not why they made the film.
Ayuri McAvoy制作了这部电影，她也是McAvoy的妻子。她以前是一位单身母亲。但他们说这不是他们制作这部电影的原因。
Rionne McAvoy said that the country’s traditional culture makes women accept their difficult lives and makes them ashamed to ask for help. He told the Associated Press that the women are "keeping their public face and private face separate.”
Rionne McAvoy表示，该国的传统文化使女性接受她们困难的生活，并让她们羞于寻求帮助。他告诉美联社，这些女性“保持着公共形象和私人形象的分离”。
Akihiko Kato is a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo. He appears in the film. Kato said that Japan does not have a system to legally force fathers to pay for their children if the parents are separated. The Japanese government has promised to give money to people with children, but this is slow to come, he said.
加藤晃彦是东京明治大学的一名教授，他出现在影片中。加藤表示，如果父母分居，日本没有强制父亲合法支付子女抚养费的制度。他说，日本政府已承诺向有子女的人提供资金，但这进展缓慢。
Kato said that this is partly why birth rates in Japan have been so low. There were 1.2 million births in the year 2000 compared to fewer than 800,000 births in 2022.
加藤表示，这在一定程度上是日本出生率如此之低的原因之一。2000年有120万出生，而2022年的出生人数不到80万。
Some people believe the modern idea of the nuclear family means that single parents, mostly mothers, have to do everything on their own. People like grandparents, neighbors and extended family members no longer seem to be able to help with children.
有人认为，
现代核心家庭的理念意味着单亲家庭，尤其是母亲，必须自己完成所有事情。像祖父母、邻居和扩展家庭成员这样的人似乎不再能够帮助照顾孩子。
Yanfei Zhou is a social science professor at Japan Women’s University in Tokyo who also appears in the film. She said that these changes have serious effects on children. The divide between rich and poor is growing, and children will end up in poverty, she said.
周艳飞是东京日本女子大学的社会科学教授，她也出现在影片中。她表示，这些变化对儿童有着严重的影响。贫富差距正在扩大，儿童最终将陷入贫困，她说。
The film won the Best Documentary prize at the Miyakojima Charity International Film Festival last year. It was also officially chosen for the Yokohama International Film Festival.
该电影去年赢得了宫古岛慈善国际电影节的最佳纪录片奖。它还正式入选了横滨国际电影节。
McAvoy said he has long been interested in telling the story of those who society had forgotten and who do not have a voice. He said that being on the outside of Japanese culture has helped him to share stories with a new viewpoint and without bias. He said his next film will be about young people dying by suicide in Japan.
McAvoy表示他长期以来一直对讲述社会遗忘并且无言以对的人的故事感兴趣。他说，身处日本文化之外有助于他以新的观点和无偏见的方式分享故事。他表示他的下一部电影将是关于在日本自杀的年轻人的故事。
McAvoy said, “It's one thing we can do more of in society: to try recognize people's cries for help.”
McAvoy说：“这是社会中我们可以做得更多的一件事：试图认识人们的求助呼声。”
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Words in This Story
taboo – n. something that is not acceptable to talk about or do
topic –n. the subject of writing or a discussion
society –n. people who live together in a large area under the same rules, traditions and values
apt – adj. likely to do something
rent – n. a regular payment for the use of property such as the use of a place to live like an apartment or home
ashamed – adj. feeling regret and embarrassment for what you have done
nuclear families – n. a family group consisting of parents and their children living in one home
bias – n. a tendency to support one side of an argument over another
