Comments on: Tokyo metropolitan government tells NPO to stop feeding homeless

By: phauna

phauna — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:23:29 +0000

Well, in Sydney for example, all the soup kitchens have arranged a different day of the week to serve a meal. So they only serve once a week, but you can go to a different place every night for a meal. There are other groups who help with various things, like getting homeless people post boxes so that they have an address and can get welfare. Some groups run shelters, some have medical care, it’s better than nothing, but the government should really be doing this, not fifty charity groups.

By: The Big Issue: A magazine that helps the homeless in Japan | Tokyo Metblogs

The Big Issue: A magazine that helps the homeless in Japan | Tokyo Metblogs — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:19:34 +0000

[...] magazine that helps the homeless help themselves. It’s heartening to know this, in the face of recent news that a Catholic organization was ordered by the government to stop giving free meals to the [...]

By: ponta

ponta — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:50:21 +0000

Japan times article

A metro official at the 5th Construction Office, which grants permission for occupation of roads and rivers, told The Japan Times they are only asking the group to relocate, and do not disapprove of its activity.

As for how the local government provides those who don’t have permanent address with the welfare benefit, see page 11
http://www.homeless-net.org/siryousitu/sankousiryou/sankou1/jichitai19.pdf
As for how NPO evaluate the government activity, see

ホームレス支援全国ネットワーク
http://www.homeless-net.org/

特定非営利活動法人新宿ホームレス支援機構
http://homepage3.nifty.com/shelter-less/index.html

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:51:16 +0000

So what kind of figures do homeless support groups themselves give?

By: butakun

butakun — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:38:33 +0000

How does this charity help the homeless? Once a week, they get a free meal, and? In Brussels central station, on the Christmas eve, people did the same thing, the volunteers felt good, but that’s it. The charity has been going on for awhile, occasionally. There are about 1000 career homeless in Brussels capital region (out of the population of 1 million), and the number is not decreasing and the social housing has a looong waiting list, i.e. the situation has not improved. This kind of charity is all image and no substance when the focus should be on the reintegration of the homeless.

By: ponta

ponta — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:25:45 +0000

If you want to help Japanese homeless people, fine. That’s a great idea.
If you want to say the government is not telling the whole truth, sure, no governments in the world are telling the whole truth, for that matter,no media tell you the whole truth, and activists often tell lies for their agenda.
If you want to say that the government is not doing anything for homeless to get them the job, or welfare benefit, that is mistaken. Read the link above I listed. ホームレスの自立支援に関する・・・
If you want to say the government is not doing sufficient enough. I agree, and no government is doing enough.
If you are shocked Japan is doing better on the stats, well, I don’t know what to say.

By: Roger

Roger — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:36:56 +0000

The number of homeless is much higher than the government figures. Go to Shinjuku, or any large city within Tokyo and the surrounding areas and you will see lots of homeless. Not only Sumida River but all rivers have lots of homeless. Why is it that the government is not telling the truth? Why are so many people falling between cracks in Japan? As this article clearly shows the government have no intentions to deal with the problem instead homeless in Japan are still seen as a nuisance in Japan instead of when they should be thinking that it is a huamn right for every person to have a house. You need a fixed address to qualify to apply for welfare help. So, if you want financial help to find fixed accommodation you need a permanent address.Therefore homeless in Japan do not get help from the government. Japan also have no poverty line. I have lived long enough in Japan and seen that something is not as it should be and the government is not telling the entire truth.

By: ponta

ponta — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:03:38 +0000

You walk through Asakusa, and one of the rivers in eastern Tokyo and there are homeless everywhere.

That’s sumida river that we are talking about here, where homeless people gather.
Let’s check the law, chech the practice, check the facts before you judge the system of any counrty.

By: Anti-Terror Performance

Anti-Terror Performance — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:24:37 +0000

Are you sure about the numbers? I hear many are not registered in Japan as homeless. You walk through Asakusa, and one of the rivers in eastern Tokyo and there are homeless everywhere. Take a stroll in Asakusa in the evening and they are all lined up in the shoutengais with roofs. i have not seen that many homeless in western europe. Is threre some kind of right that everyone has in japan that if you can´t pay for rent the welfare has to give you a place to live. if you don´t have enough to eat you have a right to get money from the government or is it private institutions who takes care of these matters? in many european countries you have a right to have food and a place to live so that you do not get homeless.

By: ponta

ponta — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:20:21 +0000

Let’s ask it to Anti-Terror Performance.
He’s supposed to know it.

By: LondonGaijin

LondonGaijin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:05:54 +0000

They probably just need to change the feeding time to a later time in the evening. Here in the UK, open-air soup kitchens roll out around 8-9pm.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:53:23 +0000

correction:

.. whereas the urls for other countries are charitable / religious organizations.

and a magazine.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:50:27 +0000

Two charities, a religious organization, a magazine, and a government.

I notice that the url for Japanese homeless figures is a government website, whereas the urls for other countries are charitable / religious organizations.

Are there any Japanese charity figures available for homeless people? – alternatively, are there government figures for US / UK / FR / DE?

The point I am making is that a government (any government) is more likely to under report homeless numbers in order to make their administration look good. Conversely, a charity is more likely to over estimate homeless numbers in order to highlight the problem and raise more cash in charitable donations. A magazine? Well they just dramatize the situation in order to sell more copies!

By: ponta

ponta — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:30:01 +0000

correction

平成15年（2003) 25,296

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:46:44 +0000

That sounds more like it.

By: ponta

ponta — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 07:25:28 +0000

quick google
Japan

15年調査 3,886
19年調査 18,564
20年調査 16,018

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/houdou/2008/04/h0404-1.html

US

In January 2005, an estimated 744,313 people experienced homelessness.

http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/general/detail/1440

France

INSEE, France’s national statistics agency, admits that its official count of 86,500 is only based on the number of adults that went at least once to a soup kitchen or an accommodation service. FEANTSA estimates that the real number of French homeless is closer to 200,000,
http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2003/0210/homeless/story_2.html

Germany

An analysis of how/why some 860,000 people are homeless in Germany, which like most nations, has no governmental structure to address this human rights problem.

http://www.share-international.org/archives/homelessness/hl-abGermany.htm

UK

In England (see England – Trends over Time), the number of households officially recognised as newly homeless in 2007 was 99,500. The numbers have fallen sharply in recent years and are now half what they were in 2004 and well below what they were a decade ago.
In Scotland (see Scotland – Trends over Time ), the number of households officially recognised as newly homeless in 2006/07 was 41,100.1 The numbers are a third higher than a decade ago.
In Wales (see Wales – Trends over Time ), the number of households officially recognised as newly homeless in 2007 was 9,300. The numbers are now back to their level of a decade ago after rising sharply from 2001 to 2004 and falling equally sharply since 2004.

http://www.crisis.org.uk/policywatch/pages/homelessness_statistics.html

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:34:43 +0000

Any stats on that?

By: Anti-Terror Performance

Anti-Terror Performance — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:04:08 +0000

With all due respect the welfare programme in Japan is not working. Japan has the largest number of homeless people of the G8 countries with the possible excepion of US. Compared with most western European countries there are much more homeless in Japan. Japan is among the wealthiest countries in the world, surely the government can do better.

By: ponta

ponta — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:52:02 +0000

It seems they have been offered shelter by the local governments, but some of them do not want to buy the program and want to stay there.

ホームレスの自立支援に関する墨田区実施計画
http://www.hotdocs.jp/file/161619

２、事業の利用を強要するな。事業への参加を希望しない仲間、参加しない仲間への追い出し、いやがらせをやめろ
http://squat2live.seesaa.net/category/1838494-1.html

By: gadgetfanatic

gadgetfanatic — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:02:51 +0000

this is the same type of argument that happens in any area. here, we call it NIMBY - Not In My BackYard. "We should feed the homeless, but NIMBY." If the parents are so worried, they should set up volunteer guardwatch duty. They'll soon find out that they've been worrying for nothing...

By: anon

anon — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:34:24 +0000

Lol what? They should die to hunger then?

By: Asuka

Asuka — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:31:58 +0000

“complaints were filed since last spring by parents of students attending local schools who fear the kids will come in contact with those waiting for free meals”

This is so disheartening. Ignorance at its best.