鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃銃伊￥申諭鐃緒申鐃塾�鐃緒申鐃処サ鐃楯￥申鐃夙ワ申鐃藷タ￥申鐃緒申鐃緒申笋�

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2013-11-13 20:24

鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 (0) 鐃夙ワ申奪鐃緒申丱奪鐃� (0) 鐃緒申鐃緒申 (244)

Moyai had an eager volunteer named Marie-Cecile from January to April.
Currently, she is taking a master degree in Institute, specialised in sociology and she had chosen "poverty in Japan"for her dissertation. In order to do a research, she came to Japan. While she was in Tokyo, she joined Moyai as volunteer and witnessed people who suffers from various of problems, also, communicated with many Japanese volunteers, joined night patrol, talked to many homeless people, interviewed iconic persons dealing with the poverty issue.
This is her seventh visit to Japan. Let's see how she felt about this country, about social security. Since the report is large in volume, we will introduce little by little.
Please enjoy this very interesting report with us!!

See the previous report from below:
鐃緒申Interviewing Moyai volunteer from overseas (1)鐃緒申→http://www.moyai.net/modules/d3blog/details.php?bid=1724



=================================

Q: How did you find the social welfare program of Japan?

A: Concerning the Seikatsuhogo. First of all, when accompanying, along with a Moyai volunteer, a person applying for seikatsuhogo in welfare office, I was struck by the inquiry headed by the administration about the relatives of that person. Many (in particular the young people) do not wish their family to know their whereabouts or difficult situation (specially when they are facing the poverty issue). But the State relies on the families to help each of its members when necessary and even encourages the administration to deter those in need from applying for seikatsuhogo and to reject most of the Seikatsuhogo requests. The people in charge brush aside all the circumstances specific to each case, only saying that the applicant must go on looking for a job as he is in good health. This is a very convenient and easy manner for the government to save money and to off-load its responsibility on the people and their relatives.
This practice is all the more baffling when Japan is granted a beautiful Constitution, particularly the article 25 that clearly specifies 鐃瞬わ申鐃駿て刻申民鐃熟￥申鐃薯康わ申文鐃緒申的鐃淑削申鐃緒申鐃緒申戮鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申弔犖�鐃緒申鐃緒申有鐃緒申鐃暑。鐃緒申蓮鐃緒申鐃緒申戮討鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申未砲弔鐃緒申董鐃緒申匆鐃淑￥申磧�鐃述駕申鐃楯常申擇啗鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申慮鐃緒申鐃准わ申鐃緒申鐃淑わ申鐃舜わ申覆鐃緒申鐃出なわ申覆鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃�
By law, the State should obviously help all the Japanese people that fail to reach that minimum standard. Instead of that, not only does it give orders to its officials to reject as many as possible seikatsuhogo applications, but last spring it decided to cut the level of seikatsuhogo (in force since the 1st of August!), worsening even more the situation of people living in precarious conditions. Moreover, since the LPD came back to power, it seems more than ever determined to amend the Constitution (in accordance with its April 2012 draft) and implement among the new obligations for the Japanese citizens the one stating, “the people must help one another among the members of a household (Article 24)”. It looks like a giant step back into the Meiji era! Now that the LPD has a comfortable majority in both chambers of the Diet, Abe and his henchmen are going to push hard to have it their own way. Really worrying!
The access to heath care in Japan. In France there is the “securite sociale” that covers everybody and allow each citizen to be get treatment when needed. It’s a very costly but quite fair system, as it allows every one to have access to health care. It’s the same in Japan, with the 鐃緒申鐃楯醐申 and the鐃緒申民鐃緒申鐃楯醐申: it’s a universal system that should be efficient. However, the patient has to support around 30% of the treatment cost (sometimes less, down to 10%) and that may amount to a significant sum the poorest people can’t afford to pay. Moreover, although people are required by law to have health insurance coverage, as there isn’t any penalty if you don’t comply, a certain number of persons chooses not to enrol and that number is growing with the rise of precarious low-paid jobs that deter workers to pay their contributions. In that case, when they get sick or in case of an accident, they are responsible for paying 100% of their medical fees; if these fees are waived for low-income households receiving government subsidy, the problem is that many needy households do not get any government subsidy and it’s a vicious circle. That’s why the Min.iren program is so important for the poorest and the weakest in Japan and their activity is absolutely essential to many poor Japanese people.

Q: Do you feel that livelihood protection money (seikatsuhogo) in Japan sufficient?

(livelihood protection: 鐃緒申53,700/month for house, \80,000/month for living expense)

A: Theoretically, for a French person, the seikatsuhogo program seems to ensure, at least until recently, a decent level of protection against the ordeals of life: compared with France, it still amounted to more than what you’re entitled to receive when living in France; as an example, a single person receiving in France the RSA (the French equivalent of seikatsuhogo) will get 474,93€ per month. But as the standards of living are different, it’s hard to make any comparison: I know that accommodation is very expensive in Japan and probably the housing allowance within seikatsuhogo is certainly short by a significant sum, in particular for a person living in Tokyo. Anyway, in practice, it is quite different, as seikatsuhogo is seldom granted. But I share the growing concern about the seikatsuhogo keeping on being reduced.

Q: Any particular impression about how media or public in Japan take poor people?

A: Obviously, there has been a big change in the approach of the poverty issue by the media since 2006. You find countless articles in the press and TV programs dealing with “the working poor”, the “net-cafe refugees” or “the homeless”. You find also a wealth of books on that topic in all the bookstores (specially about children affected by poverty). This subject is nowadays widely acknowledged and no more “taboo”. It certainly came as a shock for many Japanese when they watched the NHK programs in 2005 about “The working poor” or in 2006 on the refugees dwelling in the net-cafes. At that time, people were not aware of the reality of poverty in Japan; they associated the concept of poverty exclusively with the Third World and the developing countries, but certainly not with Japan. From that moment on, they gradually started to realize what was going on and quite a few books began to tackle that subject. Following the Lehman’s shock, the vast operation launched in December 2008 by lawyer group, Union member and NPO volunteers on New Year’s Eve, definitely disclosed that issue in broad daylight, by directly appealing to the government to act quickly.
But though that subject has been covered at length and regularly in the media, when it comes to solutions to tackle that very issue, the media are rather prone to duly relay the government rhetoric. The journalists on the TV will show some concern for the people stricken by poverty, but they’ll be the first to exaggerate the number of seikatsuhogo “cheaters”. Moreover there’s hardly anything done to counter the belief that people on seikatsuhogo are just a bunch of lazy persons sucking the taxes of the working population. A lot of people are still very prejudiced against the poor and show a real contempt for those who seek help from the State. The poor may be pitied but it is generally considered they have to rely on themselves (and possibly their relatives) but not on the society to come through their ordeals.
However the situation may be changing gradually; some movies and even manga or dramas on popular channels are openly dealing with the poverty issue. The most recent example is the drama “Woman” currently airing (with very decent ratings) that seems to give a rather accurate vision of the dreadful situation the poor (in particular the single mother) are facing nowadays in Japan (showing that even when you give your best to make ends meet, it’s not always possible and that doesn’t make you a lazy person trying to take advantage of the system).
Finally, I think that recently the Japanese media have kept being very shy of criticizing the present government policy, specially concerning the cutting of the seikatsuhogo (unless I’ve missed something).

Q: What do you think about Japanese so-called “Jiko-sekinin-ron”?

A: I think it may be the main reason that prevents a comprehensive tackling of the poverty in Japan; the strong belief that you’re the only one responsible for your own destiny is preventing any progress in the resolution of the poverty issue in Japan. I do agree that people have to take responsibility for their own actions but when the problem is a global economic and social issue that goes far beyond their capacity to address it properly, it’s kind of criminal to leave it up to them to cope all by themselves with the lack of job offers, the precarious jobs or the drastic conditions of work. It’s an easy way and good excuse for the authorities not to work on lasting solutions and a policy that would correct the damaging effects of neoliberalism that have been occurring in Japan for the last two decades. As for a lot of Japanese people, it is just a reason for not getting involved with this issue and not thinking it over more carefully. It’s easier for a person to say “It’s their fault, so it’s their problem and theirs only”, at least until that very person gets hit by precariousness and then realizes it’s not just a matter of goodwill.
A comment made by a homeless person selling “Big Issue” left me with a lasting impression. When I asked him if he had ever thought of applying for Seikatsuhogo (that man, with no family to look after him and former employee at Toyota, had been badly injured while travelling abroad and therefore could not perform his task any longer; that’s why he turned to “Big Issue”), he firmly replied that he wouldn’t dare do such a thing and be a burden to the society by “wrongly” using the taxes of his fellow citizens. Though I had read about this attitude from the homeless and needy in Japan, it came quite as a shock for me (so different from what you see in France, where people consider it’s natural that the State should take care of them if need be).

Q: What is the most impressive event you came across during your 3 months stay in Tokyo?

A: There isn’t one but two major events. I took part in the demo against the cut of Seikatsuhogo on March the 6th, and the big anti-nuke rally on March the 10th. Both went off in a very good-natured atmosphere. In the first one, I was able to meet with many dedicated and amazing persons standing up for the weakest and the poorest. I could feel the strength of their convictions, though by French standards it was a relatively small demo, taking place amidst the total indifference of passers-by. But nothing would damper their spirits. I was also impressed by the remarkable restraint the persons concerned by this measure were showing in a very dignified manner. They really command admiration. The second event was really impressive in many respects. First, there were the dramatic and sudden change in the weather (darkness falling on the crowd in next to no time along with a sharp drop in temperatures), but most importantly, I was struck by how cheerful and peaceful the crowds of people were, dead set on showing their anti-nuke determination. I was surprised to see once again how obedient and disciplined the demonstrators were when, at he request of the policemen, they would lower their banners as they went past the Diet. What the heck is going on, did I tell myself, if there’s any place to show these banners, it has to be the Diet unless those poor MP babies would be too scared and traumatized!! I must confess that’s something very hard to grasp for a French person.
Each time what saddened me was the very little number of young people in these demos, when they should have been the most active on these matters (seikatsuhogo, anti-nuke).
While taking part in different demos, I noticed a few characteristics that seemed very “Japanese” to me. Each time the demo would go past certain buildings of the Diet, it wouldn’t fail to stop in front of representatives and members of the JSP, all of them waiting for the demo with banners and sashes and further on that would be repeated in front of the JCP’s ones; then, an emblematic activist would go and shake hands with the Party representatives who would deliver a speech. In France, politicians just march along with activists and demonstrators, always in the front row to be sure to be spotted on TV or make the headlines and to get a chance to be interviewed by the journalists. The organization of the demo is also quite different; Japanese demonstrators only march on the sidewalks and at most on one lane in the street and they stop at the traffic lights, so it ends with the march splitting into groups. You should come and see what happens in Paris when people march in the streets. They occupy the whole space (whatever their number), streets and sidewalks alike; that’s why, as there’s no way any car could proceed smoothly, the traffic is stopped altogether for the duration of the demo along the whole length of its course (which must be authorised by the police headquarters). Meanwhile, the bus routes are diverted. This is something very common and you have posters in the bus shelters letting you know beforehand of any diversion if your bus route happens to cross the course of the demo.

I would also like to mention three situations that left me with a lasting impression:
The invisibility of the Poor. I’m referring to an incident that occurred on the bridge near Ochanomizu station, when a young mother elegantly dressed with two young children stopped in front of a seller of the magazine “Big Issue”, opened her bag, lifted her purse just…. to take below a tissue that she gave to one of her daughters. When she stopped and started to lift her purse, the “Big Issue” seller wrongly anticipating her request, presented her with the last issue. The woman didn’t even look at him and went on with her stroll. There is no way that she could not have been aware of that man, but for her he was just nothing to look at or even acknowledge. I had just talked briefly with that young man (aged 35) who was obviously psychologically very fragile; if often confronted by such behaviour, there’s not doubt that on the long term he will be deeply stigmatized and even more weakened.
On the subject of Fukushima, on the 11th of March, at 2.46 pm, I was with a Japanese couple in a cafe overlooking a street between Ginza and Tsukiji, surrounded by many people engaged in deep conversation. At the fateful time, nobody stopped what he/she was doing whether in the street or in the cafe. I made no comment (it would have been totally inappropriate); life just goes on and there’s nothing to say. In the evening, back home I read the press and watched the TV on the net: they all said that at the fateful time the whole Japan stopped and observed a minute’s silence in memory of all those who had disappeared in the 11/3/11 disaster. I was shocked! So far from reality, so in phase with all the rhetoric surrounding Fukushima: just words devoid of meaning. Meanwhile many people in Fukushima and Tohoku are still waiting for solutions to their dreadful situation.
I also remember a discussion I had with a young woman working in a shop selling luxury glasses in Ginza that I encountered quite by chance at an exhibition. She was thrilled to be able to practise her French with me (and she was pretty fluent in it!). So we talked in French about her job; she confessed her fear concerning her situation. Though she was a “regular employee”, she had a very low salary and couldn’t afford many treats, but she wouldn’t dare complain about it for fear of being fired. Despite her warm welcome and thrill of practising her French, I could sense her feeling of loneliness and distress. It was just a striking illustration of the dire situation a lot of young people in Japan are being confronted with.

(To be continued)

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2013-8-30 14:40

鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 (0) 鐃夙ワ申奪鐃緒申丱奪鐃� (0) 鐃緒申鐃緒申 (358)

Moyai had an eager volunteer named Marie-Cecile from January to April.
Currently, she is taking a master degree in Institute, specialised in sociology and she had chosen "poverty in Japan"for her dissertation. In order to do a research, she came to Japan. While she was in Tokyo, she joined Moyai as volunteer and witnessed people who suffers from various of problems, also, communicated with many Japanese volunteers, joined night patrol, talked to many homeless people, interviewed iconic persons dealing with the poverty issue.
This is her seventh visit to Japan. Let's see how she felt about this country, about social security. Since the report is large in volume, we will introduce little by little.
Please enjoy this very interesting report with us!!

=================================

Q:鐃緒申What’s your major?

A:鐃緒申When I was young, I graduated from “Sciences-Po Paris” (in 1978), majoring in politics and economics/finance (better to know the enemy from within!!). At the time I was really interested in politics; I entered that university after passing a very selective exam (I guess it was also to reassure my parents, so they wouldn’t have to worry about my future). It was just months after Mitterrand’s setback in his first attempt to become the first socialist President of France. I just wanted to keep fighting on despite the defeat, but I couldn’t fit in this university.
In my studies of Japanese, for the Master degree, I’ve specialized in sociology.

Q:鐃緒申What made you study “poverty in Japan”?

A:鐃緒申Since my childhood, I’ve always been aware of the poverty issue and all the huge disparities I could see around me and in the world. For me, it was just plain injustice. My parents came from a very poor background (specially my father who didn’t always have enough to eat as a child and as a result suffered from tuberculosis in his early twenties). My sisters and I grew up free from want, never lacking for anything (my father was adamant on that point) but my family couldn’t afford any luxury. My father was in the French Air Force and we had to move very often; we never lived in wealthy areas, not before I reached high school when my father successfully passed a competitive examination in the Army that spectacularly boosted his career. Until then my schoolmates came mostly from working-class background. When my father was posted to Paris in the ministry of Defence, my environment changed significantly and I came to meet very privileged people, in particular when I entered “Sciences-Po Paris”, a famous school for the “elites”. That university provides 90% of our French politicians and our top senior civil servants; so you can picture what kind of students I would meet most of the time! The vast majority was quite arrogant and self-centred, only worrying about their future career. I guess it was back then I realized there was very little to expect from the politicians to fight poverty and the injustice in our society. I had only one goal: graduate from that place and get away as quickly as possible.

When I had to choose the topic of the dissertation for my master’s degree, at first I considered writing something about the conditions of the working class in Japan, from the Taisho era till the end of WWII. I had read 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申by鐃緒申鐃緒申多鐃緒申鐃緒申 and I really wanted to research on that period; while collecting information on this subject, I came across an article talking about the reissue in 2008 of Kobayashi’s book in paperback as well as in manga. That’s when I read for the first time about Amamiya Karin and he struck me that there might be more to dig on my subject in the present-day Japan. Then I had a discussion with one of my Japanese friends living in France about the homeless people I had seen in Ueno’s park during my first stay in Japan. When she told me I didn’t have to worry about them because they had chosen this kind of life just to spice it up (she even specified some of them were former 鐃緒申長 whose bank accounts were really loaded), I was left speechless! My friend comes from the upper class but is intelligent and educated, so her answer just baffled me and I decided to research on the issue of current poverty in Japan (and more specifically among the youth, because when there are few prospects in the future for a significant number of young people, I believe their country is at risk of being on the brink of collapse).

Q:鐃緒申How did you found this country after spending 3 month in Tokyo?

A:鐃緒申First, on a light note, I’ll just say that winter in Tokyo is just wonderful. The sky is so blue and the air is so clear, it’s just pure delight to walk in the streets of the city whether in the morning or at dusk. For a French person, it is just something totally unexpected, because in Paris despite the days getting longer, winter is a filthy season with endless, cold rainy days.
I talked with different people and what struck me was the gnawing anxiety I could sense in many of your fellow citizens and their desire to go back to what they saw as the “Golden Age” of Japan when they thought the circumstances posed no threat to employment and when the future seemed bright and secure. Very few spoke about the Fukushima issue and a lot of them were going on living as if it was none of their concern (in particular in regards to the health issue). Many seemed to wish they could bury their head in the sand until the storm recedes. But I think considering the many hardships Japan is facing right now it’s time for everyone to fully address the current issues whether it be the poverty or the nuclear ones.
I remember a few days after I arrived, I was with a friend in a “hippie atmosphere” building located in a little street in Ginza and hosting various artist galleries (most of them having a kind of shabby look: quite interesting!), when I met with a bunch of very nice elderly people (mostly ladies) who were thrilled to talk with a French person. When they asked me what I was doing in Japan and I started to explain about my research on poverty among young people, except for one man, they all showed contempt for the young, saying they were just lazy and spoiled brats who grew up with no inclination for work! I tried to stand up for all the freeter and young people but that was pointless. I was confronted with a total lack of understanding.
I’m truly filled with even more respect and admiration for all the people dedicating themselves to fighting poverty, discrimination and injustice in Japan as I got a better idea of the context they have to deal with, all year long in order to improve the lot of the needy and the homeless.
I was really lucky to be able to live as a Tokyoite in a small flat, commuting nearly everyday from Kamata to the centre of Tokyo or other parts of the city. I could realize a lot of people around me were worn out by their daily life with little left to care about anything else. As I had already experienced it during previous stays, more than once I was faced with the prejudice some Japanese people have against foreigners, in particular in the subway and the train; they would rather stand up or go somewhere else than sit down beside me. But in the end when the train would start to be really crowded, someone would overcome his fear/dislike and would consent to sit next to me (In a way it helped me to grasp the feeling of being ostracized). I suppose it comes from the insularity of Japan. But on the other hand, every time I spoke to someone in the street, I was always obligingly given an answer with a lovely smile.

Q: How did you spend your time while you were in Tokyo?

A: I focused my research on the NPO I had previously studied back in France, such as Moyai, Big issue, Min.Iren in particular and I came across little associations such as Akane or Aun for example, each addressing the poverty issue on different level. As much as I could (more than once, I blamed myself for my poor Japanese that prevented me to get a better understanding of all the people I was with) I talked to people affected by poverty, in particular the homeless I encountered while walking in the streets of Tokyo (and I walked A LOT).
I went to net cafes in Kamata to talk with people working there in order to get some information on the young people using them as places to sleep at night, but the staff was reluctant to pass on information and it was difficult to get anything specific.
I took part in several anti-nuke demonstrations and in the Friday demos in front of the Prime Minister’s office; on this occasion, I tried to speak with people, as many as possible. I came in contact with various people involved in anti-nuke movements.
I discussed with people from very different backgrounds, so I could get a wider and more accurate picture of the Japanese society concerning the poverty issue.
I also took advantage of my stay in Japan to buy as many books as I could on that subject.
And I read a lot, in order to prepare the interviews I had with iconic persons dealing with the poverty issue.
But I truly wished I could have mastered Japanese more to be able to really communicate with your fellow citizens and share their ideas and feelings.

Q: Seeing and talking with various NPO group members or people who fight

against poverty in Japan, what did you feel or think?
A: What struck me was their dedication and determination no matter what. They stand out sharply with most of the Japanese people who don’t wish to get involved in these issues or to be singled out because of them.
I remember talking with a young woman holding a senior position in a Japanese company. Having grown up as a child in the US, she was well aware of the discrimination people can face when even slightly different from the group they belong to. Nevertheless, when I tried to explain the horrendous situation some young Japanese people were buried in, she answered me that if they really wanted to get out of it there was always a way out and it was their responsibility to find it by themselves, as she did as a child having suffered from 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 after coming back from the US. Having been blessed with parents that helped her to adjust to her new life in Japan, she just couldn’t grasp the concept of “lack of溜鐃緒申“ stated by Yuasa Makoto, After the results of the 12/16/12 general elections, though many volunteers were well aware of the gloomy perspectives facing the needy and were resigned to cope for the years ahead with a very tough government (up to the point I could sometimes sense some despondency in their talks), nevertheless most of them showed that their fighting spirit had remained intact and they were more determined than ever to go on with their involvement in social activism. The volunteers I met come from very different background, each one with his/her own path leading them to volunteer work. I encountered men and women, young and old, working or retired people, coming from very poor families, average or wealthy families (though in that last case, maybe fewer), with different standards of education. For what I saw, the religious aspect didn’t seem to be the driving force of their commitment, unlike a number of Western people who become volunteers in order to be consistent with their faith. I also had the feeling that all these people share a sense of belonging to a community and that really warms the heart.
Contrary to the West, in Japan you need some courage to enrol in a NPO
fighting poverty, as it is not highly regarded nor praised in the Japanese society.
Today, I can’t help wondering how all these people feel like after the outcome of the last upper house elections that gave Abe the majority he needed to enforce his dreadful policy. I hope they all have the inner strength to carry on with their fight for the poor and the weak.

Q: Seeing and talking with many homeless people or individual who has problem, what did you feel or think?

Concerning the homeless, in a way, I could relate to what I can see in France and Europe, with the feeling that many homeless or poor people are just victims thrown out on the street by the same global neoliberal economy.
However, I noticed some differences with what you can see in Paris streets. First, contrary to the banks of the Sumida, you hardly see any homeless people along the Seine river (except under two or three bridges where you can spot very few homeless). In Paris you encounter most of the homeless on the sidewalks, on the subway air vents (in winter it gives them a little bit of warmth), along the “facades” of office buildings and museums or on some benches in the public gardens. They can be spotted all day long, unlike Japan where they remain hidden in the daytime. In winter when it’s too cold or in summer when it’s too hot they seek refuge inside the subway. They don’t usually build the type of corrugated cardboard houses often spotted along the banks of the Sumida or the Tama rivers and also in the Ueno Park: in Paris you can see this kind of dwellings along the “boulevard peripherique” which is a ring road surrounding the city altogether and that serves as a real frontier between Paris (rich) and the suburbs (much poorer, some of them being real flashpoints). There are also some differences in the way the homeless in France interact between themselves and with the passers-by. It’s not unusual for them to stay in little groups (2, 3 and sometimes more) and they don’t hesitate to ask you for money. Just only once in Tokyo near Takaracho, a homeless person approached me, explicitly asking for money.
In Japan, I sensed a feeling of “utter” loneliness and self-depreciation among many homeless, maybe more than in France.
Among all the persons I spoke to, some showed a tremendous thirst for talking with people, just wishing to be acknowledged; they were very friendly, specially some persons selling “Big Issue”. But others didn’t want to talk, already withdrawn into their shell. I remember a man in particular that I met on a few occasions and who had a family and still bore the inner scars of a miserable childhood; he remained silent most of the time and was nothing but a wall of resentment and bitterness (though he was lucky enough to have a loving wife who was supporting him). I couldn’t help thinking what a waste it was for all these people, all the more for the young ones.
A lot of people going through hard times because of unstable jobs expressed their anxiety about what the future had in store for them. Scratching a living and having hardly any time for anything else, some seemed resigned to their fate and with little hope left for a brighter future. Still they were a few smiling and having faith in the society; they were mostly those who had been helped in one way or another by a NPO or the State or were involved in politics or volunteer work. Thus I met with a young man who had joined the Japan Communist Party, saying he believed in political action to create more social justice in Japan.
Mostly I had the feeling that the vast majority of the homeless and the needy were left by themselves with no other choice than trying to survive on their own. Some said they were too proud to claim for Seikatsuhogo (they had no wish to live on their fellow-citizens’ taxes) or dared not go to the administration for fear that their application would be roughly rejected. Others came for help showing a lot of shame, and/or fragility. For a person native of France where the social welfare system is still well rooted, it’s really difficult to grasp and painful to see: these persons are penalized on two counts, first for not being able to provide for themselves and their families and then for being scorned by the society.

(To be continued)
鐃緒申Interviewing Moyai volunteer from overseas (2)鐃緒申
http://www.moyai.net/modules/d3blog/details.php?bid=1762

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Daiwa JFS Sustainability college, the issue of poverty from Makoto Yuasa's announcement appeared in the article.(May 26, 2008)

http://www.japanfs.org/en_/college/note0805-02.html

Lecturer: Makoto Yuasa, Chief of the secretariat of non-profit organization, Moyai (Independent Life Support Center).

I have been involved with the issue of homeless people and rough sleepers since 1995. We cooked and slept together on the street until 2002, and now I assist needy people at a non-profit organization called Moyai, which means "tying boats together" in Japanese. Today, I would like to talk about the actual poverty situation in Japan based on my experience.

Diversification of Poverty

The situation of people who consult with Moyai has changed significantly in the past few years. Here are some specific examples.

A male at 41 is an interior carpenter. He has 15 years of experience, but the wage-rate per work and number of orders decreased due to economic situation. Now he earns only about 100,000 yen (about US$952) per month and sleeps on the street.

Another male at 33 has been working as a temporary staff here and there for over ten years after graduating from junior high school. But in April, his contract was terminated. He stayed at Internet cafes and tried to look for another job, but before he finds one he went broke.

Another male at 35, married with children, also works as a temp and his nominal monthly pay is about 170,000 to 200,000 yen (about US$1,620-1,900). Out of that, he has to pay 80,000 yen (about US$762) for company dormitory, 20,000 yen (about US$190) for electricity, 25,000 yen (about US$238) for gas, and some more for furniture rental, employment insurance and social insurance. At the end, he has less then 50,000 yen (about US$476) left each month. He called us saying that he was a pitiful father who was not able to buy an 8,000 yen (about US$76) bag specified by his children's elementary school.

People who visited our office for consultation used to be mainly day workers and single mothers. I call them as "classic poverty group." They have always been in poverty even during the Japanese rapid economical growth period between 1960s and 1970s. Recently, however, other people from general households are facing poverty. Recent trend shows that the poverty situation is diversified.

Current Status of Safety Nets

There are three major safety nets in Japan: Employment, social insurance and public assistance. First, let's look at the employment.

When we divide the labor market into core regular workers, peripheral regular workers and irregular workers, unemployment will be below irregular workers. The poverty used to start at the borderline between irregular workers and unemployment. As long as we stay and work in the labor market, we were able to make living.

But nowadays, irregular workers visit us for consultation. The poverty borderline has moved up to the area between core and peripheral regular workers. It also means that the labor market is sinking. Of course, regular workers are not secure either. A good example is the shop managers at McDonald's, which was in the recent news. The nominal managers had little authority and did not get paid for overtime.

Employment is insecure. Then how about the second safety net, social insurance? The first thing that comes to our mind is unemployment benefits, but only 21.8 percent of unemployed people received unemployment benefits in 2006, with a drop of one third from 59.7 percent in 1982.

Consequently losing job means losing income for the majority of people. They would need to do something urgently, going on welfare, for instance. Now we turn to the third safety net, public assistance. Article 25 of the Japanese Constitution states, "All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living." We have the Public Assistance Law.

How many people are on welfare? Nearly all applicants in their 20s to 40s are turned down at the inquiry counter of welfare offices unless they are severely ill and need to be hospitalized or have a physical disability certificate. The Japanese government has not conducted any studies on this situation since 1965. According to several scholarly studies, about 15 or 20 percent of people who live below the poverty level specified by the Public Assistance Law are on welfare.

Currently, 1.54 million people (1.1 million households) are on welfare. Additional 8.5 million people, equivalent of the total population of Tokyo's 23 Wards, live under the level guaranteed by the Constitution, but they are in poverty without receiving public assistance. This is the reality of poverty issue in Japan.

Quintuple Exclusions Behind

One typical question I get from reporters is "What kind of people become needy?" I answer that there are quintuple exclusions behind poverty. These exclusions are from: educational process, cooperate welfare, family welfare, public welfare and the person itself.

Nowadays, the average child's education expense up to university graduation is 23.7 million yen (about US$225,714). Japan is 29th among 30 OECD countries in terms of the public spending on education versus GDP, which means individuals bear most of the expenses. In reality, poor people cannot go to universities.

The high school advancement rate is 98 percent, maintaining a high level for the overall population ratio. However, junior high school graduates account for 55 percent of people living on the street. Among those who live at Internet cafes, 19 percent is junior high school graduates and 22 percent is high school dropouts. It shows that people with low education levels will face overwhelming disadvantages when they start to work. Poverty begins at the exclusion from education.

There is a serious intergenerational chain of poverty behind this. The children who are from needy family become needy. If people are raised in a needy family without higher education, they won't be able to find a decent job. You can go to a job placement office and check out the job openings for junior high school graduates. These people are also excluded from cooperate welfare.

Not everyone become needy even if they can't find a good job. The average annual income of job hoppers in Japan is 1.4 million yen (about US$13,333). Even with the monthly income of about 110,000 or 120,000 yen (about US$1,048-1,143), people don't think they are needy if they live with their parents. Families more likely function as a social safety net in Japanese society.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to pay pension premiums, health insurance and residence tax in addition to living expenses. People can't seek help at the welfare offices because as I said, public welfare basically does not assist them. This is the exclusion form public welfare.

After the quadruple exclusion, finally people face the exclusion from themselves. For instance, consider suicide. We are seeing abnormal trend in Japan that over 30,000 people committed suicide for nine consecutive years. Out of that, about 30 percent (10,000 people) is said to have committed suicide due to economical reasons. That's poverty. People choose suicide as an extreme exclusion from themselves when they can't think that they can try harder and continue to live.

Poor Doesn't Mean Poverty

Maybe we can say poverty is the state without any "stock." Stock here means something like a barrier that covers people. For example, having money is a financial stock. Having parents, relatives and friends to depend on is a stock in personal relationship. Confidence in ourselves and positive thinking are mental stock. When overall stock is low, people fall into poverty.

People with stock can get by for a while and deal with the problem calmly. Even if they lose a job, they can take time and look for another job that suits them as long as they have some savings. If they have stock in personal relationship, a friend may be able to introduce a job.

The Japanese definition of poverty is those who are below the welfare standard. The average monthly income eligible for public assistance in Japan is 100,000 yen (about US$952). People who are below this level are officially approved as needy. Such standard is necessary, but it only considers a formal indicator, income, and poverty issue is more than just financial income.

Some say "We were all poor before. We worked hard to turn things around." Indeed the income might have been low, but people probably had stock, in other words, families and mutually supporting community. It might have been "poor" but not "poverty."

Since this stock is invisible, few people are aware of the stock they have. It is only natural that successful people especially want to think they worked hard for what they are now.

Measures to Avoid Putting off the Burden to Next Generation

It makes me wonder so much why the Japanese government does not implement any effective measures for poverty issue. I think the elite people who become politicians usually have huge stock and they don't know the actual situation of poverty. They naively say that "we are making policy measures for people to work hard and escape from poverty," but they don't realize that reasonable conditions are required for people with quintuple exclusions to "work hard." We should not just press people to work hard before promoting to create the necessary environment.

Let's stop thinking like we deal with poverty issue because we feel sorry for them. It is the measures necessary for the society to alleviate its own poverty and improve its sustainability.

Current job hoppers and irregular workers are the second-generation of baby boomers who built an asset during the high economic growth era. They have a choice to live on the asset. This is the stock of family and that is why the poverty issue has not been socialized. However, the following generation will see massive number of people in poverty.

I don't think a country is sustainable if it can't guarantee the "right to maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living" as stated in Article 25 of the Japanese Constitution and the right to life. I believe we need to build a society that provides the environment in which most people can at least equally work hard by themselves.

---
鐃緒申鐃旬醐申鐃緒申
http://www.japanfs.org/ja/college/note0805-02.html

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2011-9-22 8:52

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Yuasa, Makoto
September 04, 2009

Ever since the high economic growth of the 1960s, Japan has inhabited the myth that all Japanese people belong to the middle class. However, Japanese-style employment, which is at the heart of this myth, has been transformed by the increase in nonregular employment and other factors, and a growing number of Japanese live in poverty. For the Democratic Party of Japan to have a genuine impact as a ruling party, it must achieve both symbolic and substantive shifts. Changing Japan’s approach to poverty for the first time in 50 years offers one such opportunity.

The extraordinary economic growth achieved by Japan in the 1960s effectively buried the issue of poverty in this country, rendering it a problem solved. Japan was able to ride out the subsequent oil crisis of the early 1970s while sustaining relatively little damage compared to other countries. This prolonged period of economic good news gave rise to the illusion that all Japanese people belong to the middle class?a myth that we still inhabit.

At the heart of this myth lies Japanese-style employment, which is characterized by mass hiring of new graduates, lifetime employment, seniority-based promotion, and copious fringe benefits. Unique in the world, this system came to be regarded as the standard during the high-growth era. Workers not subject to these employment practices assumed that they would eventually become part of the Japanese-style system or, if that proved impossible, that their children would.

Generous employee benefits covered the living expenses of full-time (primarily male) employees and their entire families; spouses, children, and elderly parents lived on “family welfare” funded by these benefits. Gender roles became entrenched, with women responsible for childrearing and household matters.

Some problems did arise?intense competition among students to pass exams and eventually be hired by a good firm; long working hours that would be unthinkable in other countries, resulting in deaths from overwork; low wages and job insecurity for part-time workers?but these were dismissed as sacrifices that had to be made for the sake of Japan’s economic progress. The message was that the main engines were running smoothly, so we should close our eyes to the few peripheral problems. Day laborers, fixed-term employees, and others who did not enjoy the benefits granted to regular employees, along with single-mother households not covered by “family welfare,” invariably lived in poverty as the original “working poor,” but this was not regarded as a major social problem.

During the so-called lost decade that followed the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy at the beginning of the 1990s, businesses actively sought to replace regular with nonregular employees in an effort to affect a recovery in their performance by reducing personnel costs to generate higher profits (a “jobless recovery”). The neoliberal economic model embraced by the United States was adopted as the norm, and the Japanese-style employment system, symbolized by seniority-based compensation, was criticized as a “convoy system”: by generously protecting even the slowest ships, it endangered the entire fleet.

The result has been a sharp increase in the number of people living outside the protection of company and family welfare and the formation of a socially marginalized underclass. As the scope of company and family welfare has shrunk, the population of the working poor has expanded to include not only day laborers and single-mother households but young people, single-father households, low-income households in general, the elderly, children, those with health issues . . . in other words, virtually everyone who is burdened with any type of disadvantage.

This situation, we are told, has come about because central government bureaucrats, local government employees, middle-aged and older male regular employees, and other members of the traditional mainstream have clung to their vested interests. For some time now it has been argued that any measures taken to resolve this situation must be based on deregulation for the purpose of enhancing competition.

An endless wave of privatization has transformed entities including Japanese National Railways, the postal services, and the Japan Highway Public Corporation, while there has been a surge in the hiring of nonregular employees by local governments and a rapid decline in regular employees’ wages and benefits. At present 30% of those employed by local governments are nonregular employees, 90% of whom earn less than 2 million yen per year. In some municipalities more than 50% of public servants are nonregular employees, and this does not even include workers of subcontractors.

Even among regular employees in general, there has been an increase in so-called peripheral full-timers?regular employees in name only who receive low wages and few benefits. Already, 30% of regular employees earn less than 3 million yen per year. Meanwhile, pay rises for the core employees who constitute the core ranks of private industry shrink with each passing year.

Two opposing arguments have been mounted in response to this state of affairs, one claiming that it was caused by excessive reforms and the other maintaining that it was caused by inadequate reforms. Considerable reforms have been implemented, and those who believe these reforms have improved efficiency, on the one hand, or impoverished people’s lives, on the other, simply produce figures to substantiate their respective views of the outcome. There has been no coherent discussion of the issues at stake.

Those of us involved in providing support to the poor have not seen any decrease compared with the 1990s in the number of people seeking help because they cannot make ends meet from day to day; on the contrary, since the 2005 general election alone, their numbers have increased several times over. What we cannot judge is whether this has happened because reforms went too far or did not go far enough.

This question was not a major issue in the campaign for the general election held on August 30. While the election was said to constitute a genuine choice of administration, just what we were choosing when we chose an administration was not clear.

In its campaign the Democratic Party of Japan advocated of a change of administration, espoused deregulation, claiming it would transfer power from the public sector to the private sector, and also promised to help rebuild people’s livelihoods. The link between these two aims is the elimination of waste; the idea is that livelihoods have been squeezed because of the bureaucracy’s monopolistic control over interests. The DPJ claimed that once such control was wrested away from the bureaucracy, trillions of yen would become available and would be returned to society to help rebuild people’s livelihoods. It criticized the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito, as dependent on the bureaucracy.

The administration of former LDP Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi swept into power by criticizing the compartmentalized bureaucracy and the special-interest legislators allied with it, and by pledging to “destroy the [old-style] LDP” if these “forces of resistance” blocked reform. Unlike the Koizumi administration’s notion of “the private sector,” which meant corporations, the DPJ’s version seems to be more focused on civic activities and nonprofit organizations. This difference was symbolized in a debate among party leaders in the recently dissolved Diet, in which DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama confronted Prime Minister (and LDP President) Taro Aso with statistics such as the extraordinarily high number of suicides in Japan?over 30,000 per year for 11 consecutive years?and called for efforts to make Japan a country where “every individual can find his or her own place.” On that occasion, at least, Hatoyama certainly seemed to be speaking in a way that reflected concern for people’s livelihoods.

In the election campaign, however, rather than bringing the issue of poverty to the fore, the DPJ relegated it to the background. Nor did the party provide any details about just how it would establish a policymaking process incorporating civic activities and nonprofit organizations. There seemed to be a stalemate at the level of concrete, practical action, and there was even a sense that the DPJ was trying to gloss over this stalemate by stressing its image as the agent of a change of administration. If one reflects on the history and accumulated actions of bureaucratic government over the more than 60 years since the end of World War II and the more than 130 years since the Meiji Restoration, this lack of specific and practical policies can induce the worrying sensation that there is actually very little to distinguish the DPJ from the LDP.

Viewed in this context, the frequently repeated slogan of “change of administration” increasingly embodied the negative aspect of the DPJ?the party’s limitations, as demonstrated by its inability to address concrete, practical concerns?rather than the positive aspect: the sense of anticipation it generated for a much-desired change. It was as if the outcome of the election hinged on a race against time: which would come first, election day or the expiration date on the “change of administration” slogan?

Those of us working to tackle poverty in Japan have tried to persuade the government to monitor the nation’s poverty rate, to assess the soundness of people’s livelihoods.

Past structural reforms implemented by the LDP succeeded in eliminating some vested interests, but the people did not reap any benefits. The lives of ordinary people continued to become more and more difficult, as the number of people struggling to stay afloat, weighed down by the demands of life and work, steadily increased. Considering what happened then, if the DPJ goes back to calling for a shift of power from the public to the private sector, the party will have to clearly demonstrate that this means redistributing resources to help people rebuild their lives.

To criticize policies based on the notion that all is well as long as the economy is expanding?trickle-down economics, in other words?from the perspective of those who have been sacrificed to this polite fiction, we need statistical information on the rebuilding of people’s lives. Since 1965, however, the Japanese government has steadfastly refused to disclose the nation’s poverty rate, notwithstanding the fact that the rate can be estimated from the results of various public surveys.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has stated that Japan’s relative poverty rate is 14.9%, second only to that of the United States among the organization’s member nations, but the Japanese government continues to ignore this. The government refuses even to provide the OECD with statistical data, leaving it to private organizations to perform this task.

This approach?turning a blind eye to displeasing statistics and concealing the suffering of individual citizens by relying strictly on the economic growth rate, which no longer has any relation to the way people actually live?deceives the citizens in whom the nation’s sovereignty resides.

For the DPJ to be a genuine alternative as a ruling party, the party must try to achieve both symbolic and substantive shifts in the major areas where its own rationale differs from that of the LDP. A change in the approach to the poverty issue, the first in 50 years, could offer one such opportunity. If the DPJ is incapable of such an action, its tenure will be no more than a transitional phase before the next realignment of the political world, and it will be very difficult for the party to leave any record of achievement in government.


In the August 30 general election, the Democratic Party of Japan won an unprecedented 308 of the 480 seats in the lower house to become the next ruling party. In postelection press conferences, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama repeatedly stressed the need to “improve national vitality through direct support to households” and showed that his viewpoint on poverty issues has not been blurred.

Yet the economic situation remains severe, and it is all the more important for the DPJ to illustrate the state of the nation in relative terms and find an alternative barometer of successful administration to replace GDP and the unemployment rate. Otherwise, the DPJ will soon be blamed as the ruling party for the continuing economic recession and worsening unemployment rate.

Direct support for low-income households, a policy advocated by the DPJ, would boost consumption, improve people’s livelihoods, and lead to the vitalization of Japanese society. However, the DPJ needs to implement the promised policy in a way that enables ordinary people to actually feel the improvement. Without such efforts, it will be extremely difficult for the party to govern, even with a decisive majority of 308 seats, because it will find that the more dynamic a policy change is, the greater the resistance it encounters. This prospect is evident from the devastating defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party, which occupied 296 seats before the recent election.

We hope that the incoming DPJ administration will take resolute political decisions to tackle the poverty issue.

The Tokyo Foundation Article
http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/articles/2009/japan2019s-anti-poverty-policies-in-need-of-change-after-50-years-of-stagnation

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2010-10-20 16:02

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鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2010-8-5 14:03

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YUASA MAKOTO IN DISCUSSION WITH KANG SANG-JUNG
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http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/asiarights/how-to-start-a-social-movement-in-japan/

(ASIA  RIGHTS)

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鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2010-4-26 8:37

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/world/asia/22poverty.html?emc=eta1

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New York Times
April 21, 2010
Japan Tries to Face Up to Growing Poverty Problem
By MARTIN FACKLER


MEMURO, Japan ? Satomi Sato, a 51-year-old widow, knew she had it tough,
raising a teenage daughter on the less than $17,000 a year she earned from
two jobs. Still, she was surprised last autumn when the government announced
for the first time an official poverty line ? and she was below it.

“I don’t want to use the word poverty, but I’m definitely poor,” said
Ms. Sato, who works mornings making boxed lunches and afternoons delivering
newspapers. “Poverty is still a very unfamiliar word in Japan.”

After years of economic stagnation and widening income disparities, this
once proudly egalitarian nation is belatedly waking up to the fact that it
has a large and growing number of poor people. The Labor Ministry’s
disclosure in October that almost one in six Japanese, or 20 million people,
lived in poverty in 2007 stunned the nation and ignited a debate over
possible remedies that has raged ever since.

Many Japanese, who cling to the popular myth that their nation is uniformly
middle class, were further shocked to see that Japan’s poverty rate, at
15.7 percent, was close to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development’s figure of 17.1 percent in the United States, whose glaring
social inequalities have long been viewed with scorn and pity here.

But perhaps just as surprising was the government’s admission that it had
been keeping poverty statistics secretly since 1998 while denying there was
a problem, despite occasional anecdotal evidence to the contrary. That ended
when a left-leaning government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama replaced
the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party last summer with a pledge to
force Japan’s legendarily secretive bureaucrats to be more open,
particularly about social problems, government officials and poverty experts
said.

“The government knew about the poverty problem, but was hiding it,” said
Makoto Yuasa, head of the nonprofit Antipoverty Network. “It was afraid to
face reality.”

Following an internationally recognized formula, the ministry set the
poverty line at about $22,000 a year for a family of four, half of Japan’s
median household income. Researchers estimate that Japan’s poverty rate has
doubled since the nation’s real estate and stock markets collapsed in the
early 1990s, ushering in two decades of income stagnation and even decline.

The ministry’s announcement helped expose a problem that social workers say
is easily overlooked in relatively homogenous Japan, which does not have the
high crime rates, urban decay and stark racial divisions of the United
States. Experts and social workers say Japan’s poor can be deceptively hard
to spot because they try hard to keep up the appearance of middle class
comfort.

Few impoverished Japanese seem willing to admit their plight for fear of
being stigmatized. While just over half of Japan’s single mothers, like Ms.
Sato, are poor ? roughly in line with the ratio in the United States ? she
and her daughter, Mayu, 17, take pains to hide their neediness. They
outwardly smile, she said, but “cry on the inside” when friends or
relatives talk about vacations, a luxury they cannot afford.

“Saying we’re poor would draw attention, so I’d rather hide it,” said
Ms. Sato, who lives in a blocklike public housing project in this small city
surrounded by flat, treeless farmland reminiscent of the American Midwest.

She said she had little money even before her husband, a construction
machine operator, died of lung cancer three years ago. She said her family’s
difficulties began in the late 1990s, when the economic slide worsened here
on the northern island of Hokkaido, as it did in much of rural Japan.

Even with two jobs, she says she cannot afford to see a doctor or buy
medicine to treat a growing host of health complaints, including sore joints
and dizziness. When her daughter needed $700 to buy school uniforms on
entering high school last year, a common requirement here, she saved for it
by cutting back to two meals a day.

Poverty experts call Ms. Sato’s case typical. They say more than 80 percent
of those living in poverty in Japan are part of the so-called working poor,
holding low-wage, temporary jobs with no security and few benefits. They
usually have enough money to eat, but not to take part in normal activities,
like eating out with friends or seeing a movie.

“Poverty in a prosperous society usually does not mean living in rags on a
dirt floor,” said Masami Iwata, a social welfare professor at Japan Women’s
University in Tokyo. “These are people with cellphones and cars, but they
are cut off from the rest of society.”

Years of deregulation of the labor market and competition with low-wage
China have brought a proliferation of such low-paying jobs in Japan,
economists say. Compounding matters is the fact that these jobs are largely
uncovered by an outdated social safety net, created decades ago as a last
resort in an era when most men could expect lifetime jobs.

This has opened up a huge crack through which millions of Japanese have
fallen. One was Masami Yokoyama, 60, who lost his lifetime job a decade ago
as he struggled with depression after a divorce. He held a series of
increasingly low-paying jobs until three years ago, when he ended up
homeless on Tokyo’s streets.

Still, city welfare officials rejected his application three times because
he was still an able-bodied male. “Once you slip in Japan, there is no one
to catch your fall,” said Mr. Yokoyama, who finally got limited government
aid and found part-time work as a night watchman.

Gaining wide attention here are statistics showing that one in seven
children lives in poverty, one reason the new government has pledged to
offer monthly payments of $270 per child and to cut the cost of high school
education.

Still, social workers say they fear that the poor will not be able to pay
for cram schools and other expenses to enable their children to compete in
Japan’s high-pressure education system, consigning them to a permanent
cycle of low-wage work.

“We are at risk of creating a chronic underclass,” said Toshihiko Kudo, a
board member of Ashinaga, a nonprofit group based in Tokyo that helps poor
children and orphans.

Ms. Sato expressed similar fears for her daughter, Mayu. Mayu wants to go to
a vocational school to become a voice actress for animation, but Ms. Sato
said she could not afford the $10,000 annual tuition.

Still, she remains outwardly upbeat, if resigned. She said her biggest
challenge was having no one to talk to. While she said she was sure that
many other families faced a similar plight in this small city, their refusal
to admit their poverty made it impossible to find them.

“In bed at night, I think: ‘How did I fall so far? How did I get so
isolated?’ ” Ms. Sato said. “But usually, I try not to think about it.”

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2009-4-26 8:40

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A leg up over the guarantor hurdle
Asahi Evening News (Aug.3, 2001)


Tsuneyoshi Hamasaki never dreamed that he could return to what he once considered his own place, albeit an old and small one.

When he was laid off from Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market after 23 years to the job, the 77-year-old, with no family left to support him, found himself out on the street.

After going on welfare, he spent more than a yrat looking for an apartment, while sleeping on the streets of the Tsukiji district in Chuo Ward. But because he had no guarantor, each of the eight real estate agencies he visited refused to serve him, despite the fact his welfare payments were sufficient for the rent.

Hamasaki is one of the first 10 people-including homeless people and a victim of domestic violence- to turn to the guarantor service introduced in May by Life Support Center Moyai. By introducing guarantors and providing persistent aftercare, the volunteer group seeks to establish a community network for welfare recipients the homeless, victims of domestic violence, foreign laborers, the disabled and other people living inpoverty.

Unlike other guarantor services, however, Moyai continues to help its clients after they are settled in apartments, paying them monthly visits. It also plans to offer free professional consultations on legal, medical, social and labor issues.

"Poverty is not only caused by lack of money. People living under the poverty line have no community to fall back on." says Makoto Yuasa, a Life Support Center representative.

Working with the homeless in the Shibuya district, he has seen many of them leave the streets for more conformable places, but eventually return to their familiar community.

The center's main goal is to establish a network that allow its clients to help each other, rather than simply receiving support.

It also encourages its clients to join a group -currently consisting of 50 members-of people in a similar situation who meet each month. The 100-yen monthly membership fee goes toward publishng a newsletters and other future activities.

Some of the group members last Saturday visited eight former homeless people on welfare who eventually found apartment.

Kawasaki and Tokyo's Setagaya Ward also began providing guarantor services last year for senior citizens, foreing ewsidents and the disabled. People wishing to use the service in Kawasaki or Setagaya however, must have been residents for up to two years previously.

"It is great that volunteer groups started such service,"says an official at the Kawasaki City Office's Housing Maintenance Section. Its Housing Grantor System currently serves 48 households.

Section officials are busy taking care of funeral arrangements for two such residents who recently died, as well as clearing away their furniture.

"You don't call it a grantor service if you only provide daily care. The question is how they can manage troubles that arise, since there are numerous risks involved in (being a guarantor),"the official says.

Life Support Center has received 1 million yen in donations from supporters, including collage professors Diet members and the general public. The money will be used to cover any overdue rent or damages. The clients, for their part, also pay an 8,000 yen fee.

During two months following May, the center found five guarantors for 10 tenants and received no complaints from landlords. But center staff says at least 3 million yen will be needed to be prepared for any foreseeable emergencies or risk.

According to a survey conducted last spring by Japan Property Management Association, 85 percent of 171 property management companies said they saw a need for governments or other groups to help them when their elderly tenants fall sick.

The homeless are not the only people living under the poverty line who have a great need of guarantors and extended care.

Chieko Nishioka of the Saalaa women's shelter in Kanagawa Prefecture has agonized over the issue with victims of domestic violence.

"The problem is very serious. We have dealt with so many cases where the women could in no way find a guarantor,"Nishioka says. Saalaa currently houses four families, all of them foreign women with children. Women who are hiding from abusive husbands in a foreign country don't have relatives and cannot ask friends to act as guarantors while concealing their where-abouts.

Nishioka recalls three shelter residents who sought help from a commercial guarantor service, but they failed the screening. The company never revealed why they were refused.

Real estate agencies and landlords often hesitate to rent rooms to senior citizens or foreigners, according to the property management association's survey. Of 169 companies surveyed, 96 percent said they refuse to rent rooms to people who have no guarantor, and 45 percent said they reject foreign applicants.

In many cases, volunteers at support groups end up offering to act as guarantors themselves.

Jiro Shibuya and other members of the 119 Network for Foreigners in Saitama have agreed to become guarantors, making them ultimately responsible if a tenant fails to pay rent or caused damage.

"It's rather miraculous that we have never had any trouble. It is like walking in a tightrope." Shibuya says. He is concerned the group's 10 members will not be able to be so generous if the number of tenants increases. "This has long been an issue."

Life Support Center wants to get the government to help, and is applying for nonprofit status.

"We'd like to treat poverty as a widespread national problem, and expand our service,"Yuasa says."If the government decides to intervene, we hope to not just hand it over, but stay with it to tackle newly raised issues in cooperation with the government. That way we could better serve people in need."

And any benefit for the voluntary guarantors? There is nothing in it for them, except the smiles shining back at them, Yuasa says.

Life Support Center Moyai's symposium is to start at 2 p.m. on Aug.4 at Osanaki Iesu-kai(Nicolas Barre Convent) near JR Yotsuya Station. Five panelists, including Nishioka and Shibuya, will bring to the symposium their expertise in mental, illness, domestic violence, homelessness and foreign labor, and discuss problems in their fields.

Donations can be made to post office account 00160-7-37247; in the name of Jiritsu Seikatsu Support Center Moyai, for more information, call 03-3266-5744.

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15

鐃緒申鐃銃ワ申鐃緒申 : English Article 鐃淑英語記鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃� : 2009-4-25 8:40

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Interviewed by Geoff Read
January 2004

Tsuyoshi Inaba
Representative of MOYAI Support Center

I was born in Hiroshima. My mother is a ‘Hibakusha’, which means she is a survivor of the atomic bomb. Since I was very small I was told about the tragedy of the atomic bomb by my mother and other members of the family and at school. As a result I grew up with a strong belief that nobody should be killed for any reason. When I was a university student I became involved in the anti-war movement which at that time was against the first Gulf War in 1991.

I was also involved in many other movements, including supporting migrant workers. There was a youth and student movement engaging in many activities. Takeshi Mitsu was one of the leaders of the movement. We always called him ‘Firestarter,’ because He started many movents. When one began to go well, he moved on to something else.

In 1994 the first eviction of homeless people by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government happened. Mitsu said to us ‘It’s a big problem, we should go.’ But some of the members including me were worried, because we felt that there were so many homeless people in Shinjuku that we did not have the ability to support them properly. But he said ‘Anyway, I want to do something to protest against the eviction,’ so he went into the homeless shelter village and talked with the homeless people about doing something to help them.

He said to us that we could do something together with the homeless themselves to protest the eviction. So we started our activities in Shinjuku. That was spring 1994. Shinjuku Renrakukai was set up that August. The organisation consisted of homeless people themselves, our group, (including Mitsu and myself) and some activists from the Sanya area’s Day Labourer Union. At first we were separate, but then we joined together.

There were two main purposes of our activity. One was to stop the eviction, and the other was to enable people to survive on the streets. Our slogan is based on what homeless people often say to each other: ‘We are ‘Nakama” which means ‘We are friends in the same situation.’ Our slogan is ‘Protect Nakamas’ lives with the power of Nakamas.’

How to survive the winter is very important. We call this activity ‘Ettou Toso’, which means ‘The winter struggle.’ The first winter struggle began in December 1994. We did this through night patrols, distributing blankets, and a food service. Many homeless people joined with us. In the summer before we had organised the first homeless people’s demonstration in Japan.

Before the winter I was involved, but not at the centre. Then during the winter struggle I saw many homeless people helping each other even though they were in a bad situation themselves. I was very moved by this: hamata. I felt ‘Ah. This is the place for me to do something.’

Sadly, the next year, in March 1995, Mitsu was killed in an accident. His motorbike collided with a taxi. Many people were shocked, including me of course. We talked about how to make up for the hole that he left. He was involved in homeless support for only one year, but he attracted many homeless people to the work, so many homeless people were also shocked and depressed. At that time I felt very strange feelings. I felt I had been somehow told ‘It is your turn now.’ I accepted my fate!

I had joined different activities before but I felt that I had finally found my life’s work. But compared with Mitsu….I am a different kind of person. He was a charismatic leader. I am a quiet person, so I don’t attract people in the same way. Sometimes people expected me to fill Mitsu’s role, which was tough for me. So I changed my thinking, I realised that I am different from him. I do things the way that I do them…and I can live longer, and longer is better. I said to Mitsu’s wife ‘I want to achieve what he did in one year, but I need ten years to achieve the same thing.’…but this kind of comparison is useless, because each person has their own way in society.

In 1996 there was an eviction at Shinjuku Station. The local government tried to keep it secret so I did the opposite and let the people interested in it know. We contacted newspapers, television and independent video journalists. We lost the battle of keeping people in the station, but most people who saw the reports were on our side, so we won the war. The local government was criticized. After that government policy changed,very slowly but steadily. We always said the eviction was not only bad but also useful in a way, because now the government accepted our ideas. That was a big turning point.

We have also negotiated with parliament members. We demonstrated many times, so two years ago the Homeless Independence Support Act was passed in parliament. It made it clear that central government should be responsible for policies supporting homeless people…so that they can get a roof and jobs. ‘A roof and jobs’ is another of our slogans.

Three years ago I set up another organisation with my friends called the Moyai Support Centre. ‘Moyai’ is an old Japanese word originally used by sailors. It means to tie ships together with a rope to protect them in a storm. This organisation has a similar role for people. Moyai supports the people who try to live in apartments. For example one of the activities is to be guarantor for the house rent. Without a guarantor people cannot get accommodation. Even after being housed they have many kinds of difficulties, like unemployment. They may be fired easily, especially if they have mental health problems. We keep in touch with them through consultations and visits and we organise a meeting of ex-homeless people where they can make friends and sometimes we go hiking with them and so on.

Both practical things like jobs and social things like bonds with each other are important. Sometimes it is very ironic. One man, when he lived in a tent in a park had many friends and they helped each other, but after he left the park and entered an apartment he felt very lonely and started drinking more alcohol. Sometimes we visit such people and some of them say ‘I haven’t talked with anyone for a week.’

In Japan the social welfare system is poor, but human relationships are also becoming poor, especially in big cities like Tokyo. On the streets and in the park I have seen many people supporting each other. That is our model. What is important is how to develop such a model in organisational terms. For example our Sunday food service was originally for homeless people, but now it is not only for homeless people, but also for people who join with the activity. Many ex-homeless people still join us, so it is also a place for them. The important thing is whether the people who come there can feel ‘Oh, this is my place.’

The overall situation is becoming more complicated. 10 years ago most of the homeless people were day-labourers, construction workers. Now people who have worked at different kinds of jobs became homeless. Some of them are young people. Some have mental health problems. Now the homeless issue is connected with many different issues, including debt, alcohol addiction and mental health.

There are two aspects: a roof and job; and social relationships. I want the situation to change so that people can have both. I think the government should prepare more accommodation, but there should be different forms of help too. Some people simply need cheaper rent for their flat because in other ways they can look after themselves and earn a living. Some people who are not good at communicating with others, or who are not good at using money need help with that. Small group homes with support workers would be useful for them.

How people think of homeless people has to change. People should accept each homeless person as a member of the same society. The present situation is very tragic. Many people hate homeless people so many are against the government’s plan to build accommodation for homeless people in their area. But the number of homeless is still increasing.

At the moment Prime Minister Koizumi is very popular. He says that we have to reform the social structure of Japan, make it more efficient and cut down on the welfare budget. That means that society is becoming more and more divided between upper and lower classes, rich and poor people. It is very depressing.

The present homeless situation in Japan is like a room without a floor. Society must have a floor, a safety net for poor people, but now many people are forced to sleep rough and some of them die. We want to make a floor.

The first step is to find somewhere that is not in the park or on the street. Tokyo Metropolitan Government is currently planning policy. They say they are going to provide flats and rooms for two thousand people and that they will give part-time jobs to the people in this accommodation. I want to help this plan to be more successful and more suitable for homeless people.

In some ways the government plans are expensive but inefficient. The basic idea is right because they are not building big facilities, they are preparing rooms… but there must be some support for people in these flats, otherwise people can become isolated from any social relationships.

In 1995 after the Kobe earthquake the government built many houses for the survivors, but ‘kodoku shi’ (death by solitude) was common. Many became addicted to alcohol and died alone and nobody new about their death for weeks. This kind of thing could happen if homeless people are housed in isolation. We know homeless people well, so we can provide this kind of support.

In Shinjuku and Toyama parks there are homeless villages where they support each other. This kind of relationship should be maintained even after they enter the flats. If possible they should enter shared accommodation.

It is very hard to think beyond this about big ideal solutions. I have been forced to become more realistic. I believe that we can change the situation, but it has to be slowly, gradually, steadily.

There are two important things in being an activist. One is to change the situation.: “I want to face each person’s Jitsuzon.” (The reality of their individual existence.) Sometimes people who try to change the situation ignore what each person is thinking about. They become too political and think that what each person thinks is not important. It is a kind of trap I think. It may be difficult to esteem both,but we have to do it.

鐃述わ申笋わ申鐃� 鐃緒申 鐃緒申皀�鐃緒申僂鐃� 鐃緒申鐃駿援く鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃緒申 鐃緒申鐃緒申薀わ申鐃叔器申単鐃祝でわ申鐃殉わ申鐃淑￥申VISA鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」￥申鐃緒申Master鐃緒申鐃緒申鐃宿」）￥申 http://www.moyai.net/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=15