LWIF X EP6: Visible Homeless in Tokyo, Japan

March 25, 2016

Join me as I go on a walk around Shinjuku, a major government and business district in Tokyo, exploring the living conditions of the visible homeless. Disclaimer: Everything presented is simply my observations and some anecdotes I’ve heard. This is the start of my investigation into the homeless issues that Japan faces, so take what I say as uninformed opinion, not fact. This is very early on in my research, but I wanted to share what I’ve seen so far. What prompted me to investigate homelessness, is that the visible homeless in Tokyo seem quite different than the visible homeless I encountered in Vancouver, Canada or in San Francisco, United States. In Vancouver, you can see many homeless that suffer from mental illness, have drug and drinking addictions, and are survivors of abuse. In San Francisco, the homeless I encountered were more visible in the well-trafficked areas and were vocal in their begging. In Tokyo, the homeless seem to be quiet, respectful of others, and organized (in that they kept their belonging relatively tidy). They also didn’t appear to suffer from apparent mental issues. They seemed to have their act together enough that I figure they would be able to make use of the social safety net and not have to live on the streets. So why are they on the streets? In the video, and even in writing this, I’m very worried about the terminology that I’ve used. The homeless are marginalized and I don’t want to marginalize them even more. So I’m struggling with coming up with the right way to phrase things, and I’m afraid I haven’t done the best of jobs. So if it’s not apparent, here’s my stance. I think we live in wealthy societies and that poorest and unfortunate should be able to live in peace and comfort, as well as given opportunities to ameliorate their situation. How this is achieved, I don’t think we quite know yet, otherwise homelessness wouldn’t be an issue. I didn’t ask this in the video, but what kind of questions around homeless in Tokyo/Japan do you think I should investigating. And as I did ask in the video, what does the visible homeless (and the non-visible as well) look like where you’re from?

Comments

4 responses to “LWIF X EP6: Visible Homeless in Tokyo, Japan”

March 27, 2016

Max

This is my first comment under one of your videos, although I have been silently watching them for quite a while now. So I just wanted to take the chance and tell you how much I took a liking in the respectful, honest and yet somehow easy-going way that you concern yourself with the topics you choose, before adressing this specific video. I always had the feeling that Youtube had potential, but was more of a platform for music videos and loopy entertainment for teenagers, until I found your channels. By now I consider them two true jewels on the internet – interesting topics, a wonderful way to present them and great camera work!

Now I would like to answer the question in the text below and refer to a passage in the disclaimer. In the disclaimer you wrote:

“I think we live in wealthy societies and that poorest and unfortunate should be able to live in peace and comfort, as well as given opportunities to ameliorate their situation. How this is achieved, I don’t think we quite know yet, otherwise homelessness wouldn’t be an issue.”

In Germany, there is only a very small chance for you to see a homeless person, even in the bigger cities. You might see beggars, but that is something else. You can only be homeless by your own choice in Germany, as – even if you can’t afford it because you don’t have a job or you’re unable to work because of poor health or other reasons – the state organizes an apartment for you and will even use tax money to allow you to pay for your rent. It won’t be a large apartment and it may not be in a beautiful location, but it’s clean, it has warm running water, a kitchen, a bathroom and an elementary furniture, as well as electricity, internet access, a phone, a radio and a television set. You also get unemployed benefits (the term sounds strange to me, but I found it in the dictionary) – that means the state gives you enough money to buy yourself some clothes, something to eat and additional furniture, if necessary and to pay for means of transport. Here’s the catch: if you want to gain access to those benefits, you need to file for unemployment at the job center and you have to be a german citizen (it’s not sufficient to be an EU citizen!) – employees of the state will then search for a job for you, based on your education and experience. During that process you will have to go through a lot of bureaucracy, e.g. meet with your advisor at the job center regularly, fill out forms, take part in specific classes to further educate unemployed people and so on and you might find a job that you don’t like and that is paid badly. The bureaucratic process itself is almost like a fulltime job and can be quite frustrating for those, who slip into that situation, from what I’ve heard. Still, you have it warm, you have something to eat, access to water, information and fresh clothes; it seems like a fair situation to me, but that is just my superficial opinion.

Although there are very few homeless people to be seen in Germany, there are some. Most of them exercise protest against the german social welfare system or capitalism – they would rather live on their own terms than on the terms of society or the state. Others are living on the streets because they are not german citizens and thus don’t have access to social benefits. But even for those we have emergency shelters with holding areas and bedrooms in every larger german city, where they get food, clothes and a bed for free. Plus, in winter, there are special police and medical patrols in the larger cities, who walk to the few spots where you can possibly find people sleeping outside, asking them, if they really want to spent the night outside and – if they reconsider – who organize a spot in an emergency shelter for them or – if they don’t reconsider – give them at least blankets, pillows and something warm to drink to make sure, that they don’t die out there or get sick.

What I was just wondering about now is, doesn’t Japan have a social welfare system as well? If so, how does it work and how does it affect homeless people? In other words, are there any measures of the state to help homeless people get back on track and off the streets? I can’t wait for the follow-up(s) of this video.
1. March 28, 2016
  
  lifewhereimfrom
  
  Thank you very much for the kinds words. It’s really nice to read such positive comments.
  
  The German system sounds very progressive and I’m glad to hear there’s something in place to help the less fortunate, even those who don’t have German citizenship.
  
  Japan does have a social welfare system, but I don’t quite know the ins and outs of how it pertains to the homeless. And yes, in the follow-up videos I’ll explore it. All the best!
March 29, 2016

Lê Ngọc Thùy Linh

Awww, you are so kind baby girl. My angle, my everything <3 <3 <3
August 1, 2016

lifewhereimfrom

Thanks for describing what Florida and some its cities are like. Those are all great questions you posed, and ones I intend to find answers to in the mini-doc I’m making. If all goes well, I’ll have something this year.