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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 homel

by 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.

by osdiab 7y ago

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.