From left, Erica Minner, Tracy Thueson and Con Thueson, volunteers at the Yokota Air Base food pantry, take in donations of food items from a donor Oct. 9, 2025. (Marc Castaneda/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. service members in Japan were looking for low-interest loans and visiting food banks this week as an end to the 9-day-old federal government shutdown appeared nowhere in sight.

Financial planning was a priority among approximately 50 people at a “resource fair” Thursday at Yokosuka Naval Base, the home of the Navy’s 7th Fleet. Several stopped at a table manned by Heather Rogers, a customer service representative for Navy Federal Credit Union, to ask about the interest-free loan program.

“So far, almost everyone that’s come by here has said they’re either going to or already have enrolled in it, which is wonderful,” Rogers said at the two-hour fair.

U.S. service members are working without pay during the shutdown as an empty payday looms Oct. 15.

Nicole Pickle, a volunteer for the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, said sailors stopped by her table seeking information on bridging a pay gap. The society also offers interest free loans and case-by-case assistance with basic living expenses.

Marine Corps spouse Jamie Young shops the Neighborhood Pantry at Camp Foster, Okinawa, on Oct. 9, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)

None of the sailors she spoke to were in dire straits yet, Pickle said.

“Everyone is current on their pay up until now,” she said at the fair. “Once the paycheck hits - if they don’t receive their pay - that’s when things are going to get more uncomfortable.”

At the Neighborhood Pantry on Marine Corps’ Camps Foster and Kinser on Okinawa, the number of people coming by for food has grown considerably in the past week, according to Kim Durham, a Navy spouse who runs the operation.

The pantries had 52 visitors so far in October, compared to 148 throughout September, Durham said Thursday at the Foster location.

“Definitely next week if a paycheck does not come, I think our shelves will be wiped out,” she said.

The pantries have about 2,000 pounds of food on hand, Durham said. She has been networking with nonprofits on the island to find more.

Marine Corps spouse Jamie Young was at the Foster pantry Thursday looking to stock up.

“I’m not too concerned at the moment, but I do feel that some people are more concerned with the shutdown,” she said. “I personally am pretty good with saving. I save as much as possible. I do have concerns for some of my friends, who have multiple kids.”

At Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, demand is also rising at the base’s food bank, a volunteer there said Thursday.

“Shelves are pretty bare, and we’ve just had a food drive,” said Erica Minner, a disease manager at the 374th Medical Group. “We’ve had to reduce the amount of canned goods people can take from 15 cans to eight cans.”

More customers turned up the food bank Wednesday at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, than usual, according to lead volunteer Airman Kyle Carr. Ten people arrived soon after the pantry opened, he said at the site. As many as 20 might show up in a normal week.

“I would say it’s because of the shutdown that I had the influx that I had today,” he said.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joaquin Crisostomo said he’s concerned about missing his next paycheck.

 “When I was back in the U.S. I would do side hustles, like Door Dash,” he said at the Kadena pantry Wednesday. “But the fact we cannot do that kind of stuff here, it can be worse.”

Stars and Stripes reporter Ryan Breeden contributed to this report.