This weeks theme in The Photo Hunt is Wooden or Mokusei (もくせい) in Japanese.
Prior to living in Japan i would have said this seat was divided in two so that seperate parties can share the same seat without feeling like they’re imposing on the other. Now i live here i can safely say it’s to stop homeless people sleeping on it at night, or anytime for that matter.
Being homeless in Tokyo is quite different than many other places in the world.
Nojuko – people sleeping in the open air – is one of the most conspicuous hangovers of Japan’s burst bubble economy. The fabled salarymen of post war Japan have, in contemporary parlance, been “cut loose”, and along with their jobs has gone their livelihood.
While official estimates vary, the current rate of homelessness is almost twice as high as five years ago, and anyone who has lived long in the city will have noticed emergent colonies of blue tarp tents spreading across Tokyo’s parks and train stations. With unemployment at and all-time hign, an aging population and few government measures to tackle the problem, the numbers will continue to spiral. According to figures released by Tokyo Metropolitan Government last March, 70 percent of homeless people in Tokyo are able-bodied, and often skilled, men who lost their jobs through corporate restructuring and a decline in the day-laborer market. Eighty percent of homeless people want to find work. (Source – Metropolis)
Similar Posts:
- Photo Hunt – Heavy, Omoi
- Photo Hunt – Narrow, Semai
- Photo Hunt – Important, Taisetsu
- Photo Hunt – Metal, Kinzoku
- Photo Hunt – Light, Hikari
You might consider subscribing to my RSS feed or starting to follow me on Twitter
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess couples won’t like that bench
I hope not all benches are like that …
No, definitely not, too be honest it’s the only park i’ve seen with benches like this.
great shots for the theme.
Happy weekend!
ghee
Interesting entry. Re the homeless: Noticed quite a few on my visit to Tokyo a couple of years ago. On the other hand, didn’t see many when I visited other parts of Japan, including Kokura, Fukuoka and other sections of Kyushu.
Wow! Your entry speaks volumes. Thanks or sharing.
very interesting!
happy hunting!
One of the better posts I have seen recently.
I soc’d it
A great informative post, aside of these being nice shots, thanks for sharing.
Have a great weekend!
it must b terrible to b homeless in Tokyo
this is interesting
That’s sad about the homelessness. I didn’t realize it was so high in Japan.
Great photo. I like it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any benches made like that in the USA. cool.
Happy Hunting, I hope you’ll find time to drop by and visit with me too today.
Interesting!
The men in the bottom picture do not look like homeless.
That is so sad. Not something I would have expected to hear of the Japanese! I guess they are losing their culture, just as the rest of the world. Great shots, btw.
Good shots to illustrate a good and informative post. I keep learning!
That is very interesting about those benches being made so homeless people cannot sleep on them! Loved your take on wooden!!
Great shots and fascinating article. I didn’t realize that about Japan.
If i am with my husband I wouldn’t like that chair **wink** happy hunting!
mines up Wooden Doorway
Wooden Staircase
ohhh that’s so sad article. its still hard to comprehend that people can be homeless these days
That makes me very sad to realize just how many people are homeless and it seems like no one cares.
That’s horrible!
Not the picture, but the story that goes with it! When I first saw your picture, I saw the nice colour of the wood, I like that faded look, but when I read the story I was horrified!
Very nice picture though, mine has the same colours, sort of…
Great shot of the bench. Interesting story, given that in Australia at the moment Unemployment is at a record low with jobs a plenty. Enjoy your weekend.
nice photo and i’m sad to hear that the japanese gov. isn’t doing something to help those skilled and unskilled homeless people.
wow! nice photos!
Those homeless Japanese men look nothing like the narly bums that inhabit San Francisco. I ran into one homeless guy in Sapporo and he looked liked he was doing pretty well. It was in the middle of summer, humid as hell and he was chowing down on a sack of water melons.
I actually envied him at the time. Hopefully he went south before the winter.
Great Post indeed with great attention too,
Interesting. I have not seen anything like that because our local benches are not separated and most of them time, we have homeless, or should I say beggers sleep on them. Geez.
It’s interesting to see how Japanese people come up with so many different things.
-Mike
I remember wandering off in Shibuya with my GF one time and we ended up in this homeless “park” place. There were little tarp shacks and tents set up around a public restroom. Guys were cleaning themselves in the sinks and water fountains. This place was right behind a fancy restaurant too.
That was when i realized that Tokyo isn’t all glitz and glamour like so many people think. Great post.
What a great post for this theme.
I would never have known homelessness was a problem in Japan… I mean, it’s an issue everywhere but I would have thought given pride, respect for elders and loyalty to workers, that it would not be a burgeoning issue…
Nice pictures and story.
Losing your job in Japan means bringing shame on the family, so that turns these guys to the streets. Some areas around where we live are literally villages of blue tarpaulin, the governement turn a bid eye and pretend it doesn’t exist.
interesting article behind your wooden take on the theme. I too didn’t realize that homelessness occurs in Japan. Thank you for sharing
Why should they put separator in the bench? The homeless should sleep in siting position and they couldn’t lie down on it, right?
They could, but the divider eliminates the obvious bed like structure a park bench gives. They could also remove the seat altogether, then ruin it for every one.
You’ve got an interesting entry here!
Homelessness is a big problem in Japan because no one is addressing it out here. In Osaka, there is a huge homeless section in Tennoji. There are probably more homeless people in Osaka than Tokyo. There were even homeless people camped out in Umeda which is the high class Ginza type area.