On homelessness

 

It’s estimated that there are 100 million homeless people in the world today, though in reality the figure is more likely over 1,000 million. Different countries define ‘homelessness’ using different criteria, and so a homeless person in London may not count as a homeless in, say, Africa or other parts of the world, thus making the job of counting the world’s homeless a very tricky task indeed.

Defining ‘homelessness’ helps to identify those who need assistance so that policies and preventative measures can be developed, though defining ‘homelessness’ is far from simple. One has to consider the difference between being ‘homeless’ and being ‘houseless’. Just because someone has a roof over their head doesn’t mean that that environment is stable and habitable in the long-term. Domestic violence, for example, can turn what would be considered a liveable space into an inhabitable hell.

Under the Special Assistance Act of Self Support for the Homeless, Japan defines its homeless as ‘Those who live in city parks, riverbanks, railway stations, and other public areas not of their possession’. Yet, for those who have seen the numerous down-and-out communities throughout Japan, with whole neighbourhoods consisting of shelters of blue plastic sheets complete with entranceways, rooms and ample storage space, you’d be hard pushed to deny their inhabitants the public space they occupy and treat with such care and respect. Though it’s illegal to squat in public places here in Japan, the police will rarely do anything more severe than warn those occupying the parks and train stations, and so leave them in relative peace.

Japan began counting its rough sleepers only five years ago, and today that population stands at 16,018, compared to 750,000 – 2.5 million in the US and 800,000 in the UK. Whereas in New York the average age of a homeless is 35 and the population is 68% male, in Japan the average age is 55, with males making up a massive 90% of those sleeping rough. Fukuoka has the third highest homeless population in Japan at 782 compared to Tokyo’s 3,436 and Osaka’s 3,647. In Fukuoka city itself, 312 homeless live in 45 different parks, and a significant 60% of those are from outside the prefecture. Obviously, the bigger cities tend to attract the homeless and the better ‘service’ a city can provide for them then the more homeless people it’s likely to attract. It’s been known for some of those sleeping rough in Fukuoka to be handed a one-way ticket to Osaka – with its massive homeless communities and shelters – as a means of getting rid of them which, of course, is a waste of both time and money and in no way seeks to address the problem at hand.

The Big Issue is a street magazine that was founded in the UK in 1991 by A. John Bird and Gordon Roddick as a response to the huge numbers sleeping rough in London. After initial success in the UK, the Big Issue is now an international force with its magazines being sold in Australia, South Africa, Namibia and Kenya. The Big Issue Japan was established in 2003 with the primary objective of helping homeless people to ‘live a stable life on their own’ and, according to their website, is ‘a business response to a social problem: homelessness.’ It publishes a high-quality magazine that is sold by homeless people who, having proved they are homeless, are given ten free copies of the magazine to sell. After that they buy each copy for 140 yen and sell it for 300 yen. Fukuoka was the 11th Japanese city to begin selling the Big Issue in May 2007 and was swiftly followed by Sapporo and Kumamoto. The Big Issue stresses that their goal is not to sell magazines, but is instead focussed on the long-term goal of securing accommodation and employment for their vendors.

Some argue that in Japan homelessness may be more of a social and cultural problem than a material one. The idea of bringing shame on one’s family is an especially prickly issue for the Japanese, and by becoming a Big Issue vendor and therefore effectively admitting that you’re ‘homeless’ is, for many, very difficult to come to terms with. One man here in Fukuoka, on becoming a vendor, was so ashamed when some old friends passed him on the street that he resigned from his position. That said, we should be careful about singling out Japan as a special ‘cultural’ case where, in reality, many of the same causes (poverty, eviction, alcohol, drugs and mental illnesses) and issues are shared with other nations’ rough sleepers across the world.

According to the Big Issue Japan website, by May 2007 2.05 million copies of the Big Issue had been sold in Japan which provided a total of 225.5 million yen in income to homeless vendors. What’s more, 15% of the Big Issue Japan’s vendors have gained employment and now live in their own accommodation. The lot of the homeless here in Japan in certainly improving, though there is still much, much more that can be done.

Definitions of homelessness are pretty redundant when, face-to-face, Big Issue vendors, and the homeless communities around them are first hand evidence of the problem at hand. Tanaka-san, one of Fukuoka’s Big Issue vendors who treads the pavements near Shintencho in Tenjin, reckons he sells 40-60 magazines a day which, considering the number of people who are likely to pass him everyday, is pretty appalling. The next time you’re in Fukuoka – or anywhere in the world for that matter – and you pass a vendor, think about how you’re likely to spend that loose change in your pocket and then go and exchange it for a copy of the Big Issue instead.