Japan's Homeless Population Swells

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-09-03 08:30:00 UTC
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Amid our worldwide recession, the U.S. isn't the only country struggling with an increasing homeless population. In the past year, the number of those slipping from poverty into homelessness has doubled in Japan. In fact, the plight of the homeless in Japan are similar to the challenges of being homeless domestically.

Since the last day of September in 2008 -- known in Japan as "Lehman shokku," or the day when Lehman Brothers collapsed and triggered a worldwide financial crisis -- nearly a half million Japanese have lost their contractual or part-time jobs. The vast majority of these workers had no unemployment insurance. Since nearly half of these laid off workers were living in company housing, the loss of their job was akin to losing, well, everything.  

As in the United States, the challenges of being homeless in a recession are multi-faceted. A lack of sleep, difficulty finding food, acute shame, depression, and the catch-22 of finding employment are all challenges faced by Japan's growing homeless population, according to the Christian Science Monitor.  

And like the U.S., Japanese service providers face real challenges finding and documenting the scope of the country's homeless crisis. While government statistics say one thing, people who are on the ground providing food, shelter, and information are seeing much higher numbers of people in need. For example; Japanese statistics say there are just over 3,000 "rough sleepers" in the capitol city, but volunteers have distributed upwards of 11,000 assistance booklets.

This is concerning; if the official numbers are not accurate, officials will not see the real depth of the problem. And acquiring the support necessary to meet the basic needs of Japan's growing homeless population amid this crisis will be impossible.

[Image from the Christian Science Monitor.]

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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