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The Washington Post has an article up about the lives of Japan’s homeless:
Katsunori Hamahara, 64, eats fresh food discarded by local shops and bathes regularly in the park restroom. The homeless in Japan are about 10 times more rare than in the United States, and tend to lead more self-sufficient lives.
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A lot of the homeless in Japan are such because of choice, that’s to say they’d rather be on the streets than to face their friends and family with whatever shame they’ve bought on themselves (losing their job for instance). It’s all about the honor, like Klingons
The government also takes quite good care of the homeless population (in comparison to other countries) by offering regular meals and designated areas to stay.
That article reads like pure propaganda, composed from state-monitored interviews and official press releases. I’m not doubting that there are less homeless in Japan than the United States and that sometimes they get better treatment, but from what I do remember of my time there, the government is in deep, deep denial regarding the problem.
There are fewer homeless in Japan, and overall, they do get better treatment, not unlike Hamahara-san.
I would say they keep their dignity quite well; bathing, eating properly, even removing their shoes at the threshold of shanties or sleeping areas. After all, appearance is everything.
However, you’re quite right about the governmental reaction; they would rather ignore the issue than do something about it (another reason there are so few shelters in Japan).
Many of Japanese homeless are second sons, who in the past and even today, lose out to their older brothers as far getting their parent’s estate goes. Many are also migrant workers of a sort. If you take to some of the gentlemen in Ueno you’ll find that quite a few of them work up north in Aomori, Akita prefectures or in places like Nagano that get pretty cold in the winter. The go to Tokyo in the winter because it is relatively warmer there.
Most of Japanese homeless have had bankruptcy or only lost their job without saving. They turned to migrant workers or day trippers. And if they couldn’t find any jobs, they had to become homeless. (Nowadays not all the first sons are necessarily getting their parent’s estate.)
I think Katsunori Hamahara is probably just lucky. Actually many homeless are in tough circumstances in Japan. Normally it’s not easy for them to earn some money or get enough food. How can homeless be self sufficient ?
Most of Japan’s homeless are older and had to abide by those old ways. Therefore, the first son clause still applied to them. Perhaps for today’s younger homeless people it is different and not all have that situation, but many do.
People I know have interviewed homeless in Ueno and that is what they were told by the homeless men themselves. They build themselves very sturdy homes with wood and tarp which are basically waterproof and many of them are highly literate. I myself met a man in Ueno who was fluent in English, Korean, Japanese as well as French. He was selling poetry near a jinja.
These are not your stereotypical homeless individuals. They are self-sufficient in many ways, sure they get food hand outs, but they are not individuals who are set to roll over and die. If you had talked to any of them or seen where and how they lived you’d know more about what I am saying.
That is not to say that mental illness, alcoholism and other ailments aren’t afflicting the homeless. They are. However, as I have said they are very proud of the fact that they can survive outside of the everyday world average Japanese people live in.
The man who is making some money by selling poetry could have chosen to be homeless. But the majority of them had to become homeless basically for economical reason. Some should have destroyed human relation or had certain reasons to escape from the society. Once they drop out of the society they hardly come back.
If they utter to be very proud of the fact that they can survive outside of the average world, that’s because they might be fed up with everyday hardship for survival. In fact they can’t be completely isolated from the civilization. Most of them actually collect aluminum cans or disposal electric products for recycling. If there is some occasional work available they will work. Others may catch fish or collect expired lunch box or edible wild grasses. Anyway they have their own economy. That life is probably better than (let’s say) some starving area in third world.
In Japan if you don’t have a living address, you can’t get any social welfare services. Even so they will remain as homeless. Why ? In my city there are about a half dozen of homeless living at tent house under the huge bridge. Some persons from city hall and the policemen tried to counsel them to move over to the institution. But most of them refused to do so because they would have to find new jobs and get out after staying there for several months. They knew too well it’s very difficult to find and maintain the jobs.
What if a Homeless citizen moves into your neighborhood?
Are there any zoning restrictions that prohibit the homelss from camping out in front of your yard…Like 800 meteres etc?