Survival Strategies of Homeless Men: Home, Scavenging, Work, and Welfare in Tokyo Japan

This dissertation is a story of men dealing with the challenges of poverty and homelessness in Tokyo, Japan. The homeless men I describe are mostly over fifty and face a daily struggle to secure the necessities of life. They live a few blocks from department stores selling luxury goods, which is ironic as Japan promoted itself as a classless society without poverty before the recession of 2008. This dissertation details how many men are resourceful and use a variety of strategies to survive and shows how Japanese society values older men who do not work. The dissertation revolves around the lives of the men in and around Ueno Park and focuses on two things: their homes, past and current, and their survival strategies. Discussing their homes includes how they became homeless and their relationship with their family. By home, I mean examining their current life in Ueno Park including how they built their home in the park. I discuss their relationships with their neighbors, fellow homeless men, and the authorities in the park. The hardships that many men experience, including health problems, facing death, loneliness, violence, and difficulties getting along with others show the difficulties in their lives. Survival strategies are crucial for homeless men. Their strategies include scavenging for aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, or copper wires: working a variety of jobs including those provided by welfare centers, a friend, or a coworker: and attending soup lines or applying for welfare. Since many of these strategies provide money, I examine common patterns of managing money. Some of the issues regarding money management that arose were not saving, living for the day, gambling, and living very frugally. Finally, the dissertation concludes by offering ideas for further research and policy recommendations for the Japanese government to improve the men's lives. I make several suggestions including the Ministry Health, Labour, and Welfare doing a better job of providing welfare for homeless men, giving them postcards so they can contact their families, and giving the men cash. Additionally, I propose a governmental agency to coordinate the various soup lines.