Homelessness in Japan
Not like homelessness is a good thing at all or anywhere, but if you're going to do it anywhere, Japan's the place. Rather than using cardboard boxes, it's standard to make a home out of a wooden frame, and cover it with tarpet to make it waterproof.
In Fukuoka the homeless abodes take on unreal dimensions though (not that there's more homelessness here, just that the homeless people that are here live relatively well). There's a park I go by that's filled with shelters like this.
This one looks like it might be multi room. It has a window (with drawn curtains), a table for eating outside, a roof over the front door where the laundry is hung, and even has a doghouse!
In Halifax and Toronto there are a lot of homeless people that are there because of poverty and bad times, and beg because that's what they've been reduced to. Here, homelessness almost seems like a lifestyle choice. The few I've had contact with seem strange and introverted, maybe a bit hermit-ish and arguably a bit ill mentally. But they never beg, and I've never heard of anyone so much as try to blame them for any crimes. They make livings collecting bottle deposits, and are generally keep to themselves and their own community.
12 comments:
The Homeless in my area are up in arms protesting right now.
http://www.daosu.com/2007/05/03/people-project/
After working with the homeless for 7 years I've come to know two things. There are two reasons people are homeless: Mentally ill, or they choose to be. Thats it.
This people are not really homeless. That structure would more accurately be described as a shanty, which is the normal living condition for millions of people across the world.
to sanka:
i had a long conversation with a very intelligent mid-twenties homeless guy in NYC who was neither mentally ill or desiring his situation.
his mother died and he couldn't afford the house - the rest of his family refused to help him. he said that all the jobs that pay enough can only be found in the city, but the housing he would be able to afford with said job is located outside of the city - where there are no jobs he could be hired for.
as i said, he was quite intelligent and was forced to develop an impressive living strategy/schedule that he explained in-depth to me. he seemed frustrated and said that it is a really difficult loop that he's trying to get out of but can't.
it was as if if he had a few months to work and live somewhere free he'd be able to get on track but it's impossible when one is just trying to survive each day...
/$0.02
If that's their home, then they're not really homeless are they? They just live differently. Ode to the poor!
Okay, let me rephrase it...this is how people without jobs or civic addresses that sleep in public parks live in Fukuoka.
The past 19 months is the longest I've lived inside a regular house in almost 13 years. I live on the streets when I do mostly by choice. The abode I see in the picture is a veritable palace compared to the sleeping on the ground or in parking lots I've done. Whoever lives there should consider themselves lucky and be happy for what they have. There are those here in the U.S. that have far less. Regards... J
Oh, and I might add. I've lived in Japan and I never saw things like this. When I lived in Mexico I saw people living in worse conditions than I ever had to. Imagine a bed of just cardboard and one shoe and one sock. I always had what I needed or wanted. It was easy. I long for the days when I go out there again. It can be very enlightening (I'm a Buddhist.) and a very fun time. Even when it rains, or is cold, or the sprinklers come on, or the police harrass you.
Regards... J
Jack Alexander: Asshole. I can imagine you tell a poor homeless mother with a child in Honduras or Colombia or wherever, that it is an "enlightening" experience. So you're a Buddhist? You sound kind of self-obsessed to me..
I'm Japanese, and the cost of living in Japan is extremely high, especially in the city. These people (typically middle aged) lose their jobs, can't find another job because of their age, can't make ends meet, and eventually get stuck living on the street. They are typically extremely depressed and sometimes mentally ill, which prevents them from getting decent jobs. Some of the homeless have low paying jobs but can just barely afford to feed themselves. They make these homes out of trash, and anything else they can find on the street, or the dollar store. So you assholes talking about how they CHOOSE to live this way, think about it again. Circumstances are different in different areas of the world.
Wow, this post has led to some pretty strong reactions, positive and negative, here and on reddit.
First, I don't want to give the impression that all homeless people in Japan live in enchanted palaces made out of scrap wood. I write about Fukuoka and Kyushu in southern Japan. Upon reflection, I doubt that out east in the big cities governments are as tolerant about this kind of thing in Tokyo, Nagoya, and other places that people usually think of when they think of Japan. Kyushu is a bit off the beaten tourist path, but I can attest that this type of thing really is pretty common here.
Second, while I've met homeless people that seemed to choose living this way as a lot in life, I wouldn't want to claim that each and every one of Japan's 18,000 homeless people do it by choice, or are somehow happier or more enlightened for doing it.
I just thought that were, for some reason, I to wind up homeless, I would want to live in a city that allows me, if only by looking the other way, to build a semi-permanent abode in a park. In other parts of the world you can get arrested just for feeding homeless people.
Poverty is a horrible thing, and I'm glad non-profit organizations are stepping in to improve conditions for them. All people deserved food, adequate shelter, and a chance to rise out of poverty, let alone get out of the streets and parks.
I also live in Japan, in Nagoya. In all the major cities in just about all the parks there are permanent homeless settlements like this. Lines of homeless communities, RIGHT next to the playgrounds.
During Osaka's bid for the olypics a few years back, the city cleaned out all the homeless from the city's main park where Osaka castle is. This was a huge problem for the homeless, as their homes were all demolished and they were kicked out of the park with no where to go since there are very few shelters in Japan....(if any, I havent seen any) I think they are all back and moved in now though, I havent been back to Osaka's park since then but when they were there it was AMAZING. An entire neighborhood of homeless.
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