Thursday, November 25, 2010

Homeless in Shinjuku Station





I can’t recall the exact time of year when I took this video footage, but it was some time in early winter of 2010. I think anyone who comes to Japan or Tokyo for the first times noticed that there is a sizable homeless population that are quite often very visible to the public. The city I come from, Philadelphia, also has a significant homeless population and I have had many encounters with them throughout my time living there. In this way, I found it quite fascinating to compare the behavior and lifestyles of homeless people back home with those in Japan, and there seem to be many differences.

The first, and most obvious to me, was the level of organization and ingenuity displayed by people in Tokyo that is completely absent in most American homeless. Here in Shinjuku station we see that many people have constructed small cardboard homes out of various supplies, and have with them many necessities for daily living. At another time, I saw one man who had built an extremely large box house with multiple rooms, dishes, silverware, a gas stove, and even a TV. I’ve never seen anything of this sort in America.

Another interesting aspect of the homeless are their attitudes. In Philadelphia, most homeless are unscrupulous, and will do absolutely anything to get money or food, including stealing and lying. They often follow you around and make up sad stories and insist that give them money, in general being as bothersome as possible. I once bought a meal for a homeless and had him criticize it for not being the kind of food he wanted; apparently anything other than KFC was unacceptable. In contrast, the Tokyo homeless seem to keep to themselves, not overtly bothering people, and if asking for money, doing so with a sign. As my one friend put it after watching this video, “Wow, even their homeless are organized.”

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