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On the other hand, there are virtually zero homeless people in Japan (certainly outside Tokyo) while they are seemingly everywhere in every Western city...so pe

On the other hand, there are virtually zero homeless people in Japan (certainly outside Tokyo) while they are seemingly everywhere in every Western city...so perhaps the quality of the bathroom accommodations aren’t really the point. I think you’re closer when you talk about cultural attitudes to “home”, but I’m not referring to some hokey ancient wisdom of the Far East. The fact is that it’s perfectly fine, even normal, to live in a “one room” in Japan. No one is going to shame you for it. I actually think some one-room apartments are super cozy, and feel like nice dorms. If you consider sento/public baths, you’ve got your shared public resources.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
Uh, there are plenty of homeless in Tokyo, they do keep it tidier I guess. There are also homeless in Osaka and Nagoya. I assume other big cities have homeless, but I’ve only been to (and seen them) in these three cities.
- osdiab 7y ago
  That said it's nothing compared to the homeless situation in SF. My Japanese gf visited SF for 2 months, and she was seriously shocked by how horrible the homelessness situation was. She never imagined any developed country could have such awful conditions, and felt like she was in "the city of the walking dead." So that's the reputation American cities are getting internationally. Something to really be ashamed about.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Japan has poverty and mental illness just like the states, but somehow they are more organized about “being homeless” and pooping in the street isn’t acceptable. That being said, I’ve seen much worse in India and SE Asia, but developing countries will be like that.
    - coliveira 7y ago
      There is no way to compare India to the US. Homelessness in the US is a matter of (lack of) policy and indifference.
  - rangibaby 7y ago
    There are three groups of homeless in the west that don’t exist in Japan: 1. Japan didn’t dump all of their institutionalized mental people on the street. 2. For whose who are actually poor and need help there is subsidized housing (eg UR Chintai) and ok benefits if your income is low enough. 3. There is a large and bored police force, so people acting out and drug addicts don’t last long on the street.
    - smcl 7y ago
      For point 3, it sounds like you’re saying that Japan has either a more abusive or cruel police force than the USA or a larger proportion of people locked up. I can only go by news stories and reputation, but I’d be really surprised if either of these were true.
      - philwelch 7y ago
        It’s not “cruel” to enforce the law, nor does it require mass incarceration because people react to incentives. I suspect Japanese culture may be another important factor, however.
      - Hamuko 7y ago
        No really, the best word to describe their police force is "bored". https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/05/18/as-crime-dries-up-japans-police-hunt-for-things-to-do https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/05/18/as-crime-dries-up-... Police officers spent a week of their time watching an unlocked trap car with a crate of beer inside it.
- nihonde 7y ago
  There are about 13,000 homeless in all of Japan, a nation of about 130 million people. They’re almost all men whose careers bottomed out and they fell out of the system in their 40s/50s. There is a woman who runs a program to move homeless men from the cities to rural areas that are short on labor. Her organization offers to relocate them and train them for agricultural work. Most of the homeless men she finds are willing to work but have fallen into a spiral of shame and are paralyzed by it. Japan is a tough place if you have thin skin or are prone to self pity. You can basically be cut from the team if you aren’t a player. You’ll find hikikomori and others who can’t keep up lurking beneath the surface—-often they fail a test or disappoint someone and never recover. Usually, these people have a home, though, with family or someone who takes them in.
  - nihonde 7y ago
    Here is the link to an article about the woman who retrains homeless to work on farms, if anyone is interested: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/09/national/kanagawa-homeless-grow-crops-confidence/#.XPP7QhYpDDs https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/09/national/kanaga...

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

Uh, there are plenty of homeless in Tokyo, they do keep it tidier I guess. There are also homeless in Osaka and Nagoya. I assume other big cities have homeless, but I’ve only been to (and seen them) in these three cities.

osdiab 7y ago
That said it's nothing compared to the homeless situation in SF. My Japanese gf visited SF for 2 months, and she was seriously shocked by how horrible the homelessness situation was. She never imagined any developed country could have such awful conditions, and felt like she was in "the city of the walking dead." So that's the reputation American cities are getting internationally. Something to really be ashamed about.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Japan has poverty and mental illness just like the states, but somehow they are more organized about “being homeless” and pooping in the street isn’t acceptable. That being said, I’ve seen much worse in India and SE Asia, but developing countries will be like that.
  - coliveira 7y ago
    There is no way to compare India to the US. Homelessness in the US is a matter of (lack of) policy and indifference.
- rangibaby 7y ago
  There are three groups of homeless in the west that don’t exist in Japan: 1. Japan didn’t dump all of their institutionalized mental people on the street. 2. For whose who are actually poor and need help there is subsidized housing (eg UR Chintai) and ok benefits if your income is low enough. 3. There is a large and bored police force, so people acting out and drug addicts don’t last long on the street.
  - smcl 7y ago
    For point 3, it sounds like you’re saying that Japan has either a more abusive or cruel police force than the USA or a larger proportion of people locked up. I can only go by news stories and reputation, but I’d be really surprised if either of these were true.
    - philwelch 7y ago
      It’s not “cruel” to enforce the law, nor does it require mass incarceration because people react to incentives. I suspect Japanese culture may be another important factor, however.
    - Hamuko 7y ago
      No really, the best word to describe their police force is "bored". https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/05/18/as-crime-dries-up-japans-police-hunt-for-things-to-do https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/05/18/as-crime-dries-up-... Police officers spent a week of their time watching an unlocked trap car with a crate of beer inside it.
nihonde 7y ago
There are about 13,000 homeless in all of Japan, a nation of about 130 million people. They’re almost all men whose careers bottomed out and they fell out of the system in their 40s/50s. There is a woman who runs a program to move homeless men from the cities to rural areas that are short on labor. Her organization offers to relocate them and train them for agricultural work. Most of the homeless men she finds are willing to work but have fallen into a spiral of shame and are paralyzed by it. Japan is a tough place if you have thin skin or are prone to self pity. You can basically be cut from the team if you aren’t a player. You’ll find hikikomori and others who can’t keep up lurking beneath the surface—-often they fail a test or disappoint someone and never recover. Usually, these people have a home, though, with family or someone who takes them in.
- nihonde 7y ago
  Here is the link to an article about the woman who retrains homeless to work on farms, if anyone is interested: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/09/national/kanagawa-homeless-grow-crops-confidence/#.XPP7QhYpDDs https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/09/national/kanaga...