Forum - View topicAnswerman - What Is The Homeless Situation Like In Japan?
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NormanS
 Posts: 167 |
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I've always wondered if the Japanese "Capsule Hotels" are a step towards providing shelter/temporary housing/rehabilitate to the homeless so they can step hopefully right themselves up with a decent job. If i recall from an article (or a perspective piece of someone who was once homeless) : finding or maintaining a job is difficult when you look... well.. like a homeless person (and smell awful too); so having a place where they can clean themselves, look respectfully proper and have a place to come back to is rather important for those people with a job/finding a job but without a home.
Rather serious article, i would love to read more! |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3972 |
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Most of the capsule hotels that I've encountered on my trips to Japan usually run around $50 US a night and are probably out of reach for most homeless people.
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johnnysasaki
Posts: 948 |
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the Japanese homeless are going to have a hard time when the Olympics come around...
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NormanS
Posts: 167 |
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And you are correct, i was just throwing the idea out there since there are already (that i've read up on the subject) people using the lower priced capsule hotels as a form of permanent residence. That perhaps, its possible to further lower the price as a form of social housing (which i think does not exist in anywhere else?) A good representation of what i am thinking is the Alice Garden Pods in Deus Ex : Human Revolution, which is basically capsule hotels used by the low income. While on its own it will not probably help the homeless, but as a part of a package of (welfare + housing + job finding assistance), maybe it will work? Granted my rambling will not work for the disabled, addicts, ones with mental challenges, or even single parents but will probably work for those that are suffering from financial issues and are for those who have the will (or capacity) to work or who already have work. |
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Paiprince
 Posts: 593 |
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You would think with how everyone likes to depict Japan as the suicide mecca of the world, that these homeless guys would off themselves en masse to free them of their suffering. Just goes to show that the phenomenon is a privileged problem.
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sailorsweeper
Posts: 416 |
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I think the homeless in Japan have more hope since they know they hit the bottom so they may think they can go up or something
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2905 |
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that's ridiculous, just take a look at an actual list of suicide by % of population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate japan is not even top 10, and rate wise its' "only" 1.5 tims bigger than the usa, while the top place is 2.5 times the rate of japan, the only argument that can be made there is that it's the first world country with the highest suicide rate (as long as ou don't consider rusia and south korea first world ). |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Capsule hotels are way too expensive. The preferred venues are Manga Cafes and "geki sema" micro-apartments (basically the size of a bed, and sometimes only 4 feet tall (they stack two on top of each other)).
The geki sema apartments are kinda like that right now. It would be wonderful to see Japan (or any country) outfit them something like capsule hotels. https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=geki+sema Last edited by Tempest on Mon Sep 05, 2016 4:40 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Paiprince
Posts: 593 |
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Hence why I said depict. I don't necessarily buy the stereotypes of Japan being suicide king despite being home to such infamous sites such as "Suicide Forest" Aokigahara. And South Korea is very much first world now. Ironic how the country has surpassed Japan in a lot of ways, even the bad ones. |
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Tempest
I Run this place. ANN Publisher Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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As you said, Japan has one of the highest first world-suicide rates in the world. If you look at the 16 countries above Japan in that list, you'll notice that most are 3rd-world or developing. Japan has the highest per-capita income and standard of living among the top 30+ countries in that list. Their suicide rate is 50% higher than the USA.... which itself ranks pretty badly compared to the rest of the 1st world. Suicide rates are also extremely strong among teens, and since 2014 have been the number one cause of death among 10-19 year-olds. Japan has long had a reputation for having a suicide problem, hence articles like these: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-33362387 http://www.newsweek.com/why-do-so-many-japanese-schoolchildren-kill-themselves-391648 http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/searching-for-answers-japans-suicide-epidemic/ http://wilsonquarterly.com/stories/the-mystery-behind-japans-high-suicide-rates-among-kids/ So... no, Paiprince's statement was not ridiculous. -t |
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jojothepunisher
 Posts: 799 |
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I was wondering about this stuff myself for a while now. Last time I went to Tokyo I did not see ANY homeless people. But maybe because I only visited popular and busy areas like Shibuya and Shinjuku.
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jenny10-11
Posts: 98 Location: Australia |
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When I was in Japan I was surprised by the number of panhandlers I didn't see, and even the few street musicians were just advertising themselves without expecting money, though I did see one man selling copies of the Big Issue. In contrast, in a comparable area in my home city, you would find on the one street 3 street artists, 2 Big Issue sellers and some homeless people off the main drag. Is panhandling or busking socially unacceptable in Japan?
Last edited by jenny10-11 on Mon Sep 05, 2016 5:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DaisukeReds
Posts: 11 |
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I've always wondered.. if there are places for the homeless, but there is not enough space for all of them, maybe they could form pairs and share a bed. One could take on a day shift and sleep during the night, while the other one is out and about.. then sleeping during the day when the other one isn't there. Man, the day has 24 hours, and 3 could sleep (8 hours) during the day! Anyway, interesting to hear about this situation in Japan.. even the homeless are polite.
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omiya
 Posts: 1852 Location: Adelaide, South Australia |
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One often sees homeless people around Ueno / Ueno Park, and I once bought a copy of The Big Issue at Takarazuka station.
In one movie I saw based on a real life story an apple grower worked some of the year in construction in Tokyo and slept rough to be able to send more money back to his family in Aomori. |
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SailorTralfamadore
 Posts: 499 Location: Keep Austin Weeb |
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Well, for starters, even in countries with more widespread panhandling, buskers are not necessarily homeless people. A lot of them are regular musicians/artists just looking to make extra money, or sometimes people who've fallen on hard times but are not yet homeless. A lot of musical instruments are expensive; some can be enough to pay a few months of rent, so most people who are borderline-homeless would rather sell them to ensure that. (I had a former roommate who sold her $3k cello for that reason, although that money dried up mysteriously fast...) For the same reason, they're also likely to be stolen if you're sleeping on the street. |
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