No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Social Distancing from the Problem of Japanese Homelessness under Covid-19
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Abstract
Of the many populations at risk in these corona times, the homeless are among the most vulnerable. Without shelter, having to do without personal protective equipment, often without health insurance and unable to limit contact with strangers, the risk of infection is very high. The emergency measures taken by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government included the closure of many public spaces, indoors and out, depriving them of access to the few spaces of survival. . This ethnographic article outlines how an older group of homeless men responded to the risk of infection and inconsistent government efforts to address this issue. Finally, we examine the response of civil society organizations to compensate for weakness of the government’s response.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Authors 2020
References
Admin. (2020, Feb 26). What homeless folks should know about Coronavirus (COVID-19), National Coalition for the Homeless. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Avenell, S. (2013). The Evolution of Disaster Volunteering in Japan: From Kobe to Tohoku. In Shukting, K. Y. (Ed.). Natural disaster and reconstruction in Asian economies (pp. 35–50). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiba, Y. (2020a, April 1). Shingata korona ‘rojō seikatsu no kata ga kansen risuku sukunai’ seikatsu konkyū o kaeru seido ni ōkina ana [Corona virus “Living on the road is less risk of infection” Big hole in the system]. BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Chiba, Y. (2020b, April 3). Kansen kakudai de netto kafe de kurasu 4000-ri ga rojo ni? Fukyō de sumai o ushinau hito ga kyūzō no kenen mo [4,000 people living in internet cafes now have to live on the street due to the spread of infection? An increased concern of people losing accommodation due to the recession]. BuzzFeed. Retrieved April 10, 2020.Google Scholar
Chiba, Y. (2020c, May 8). Sumai o ushinatta hito e no shien no shūchi ni shōgyokutekina Tōkyōto. Jūrai no shien no rēru ni norenai hito e no taiō wa? [Tokyo is reluctant to publicize support for people who have lost their homes. What are the responses to people who can’t get access to the outlined support?]. BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Citizens’ group to count homeless in nighttime Tokyo, doubts daytime gov’t survey. (2019, August 16). The Mainichi. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Ellis, G. E. (2020, April 2). For Homeless People, Covid-19 Is Horror on Top of Horror. Wired. Retrieved June 13, 2020.Google Scholar
Fabian, D. (2020, March 31). The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on homelessness. EPHA. Retrieved June 13, 2020, from 2020.Google Scholar
Fisher, M., & Bubola, E. (2020, March 15). As Coronavirus Deepens Inequality, Inequality Worsens Its Spread. The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2020.Google Scholar
Gill, T. (1999). Wage hunting at the margins of urban Japan. Lillies of the Field. Marginal People who Live for the Moment, 119–136.Google Scholar
Hasegawa, M. (2005). Economic Globalization and Homelessness in Japan. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(8), 989–1012. doi: 10.1177/0002764204274206CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JAICO. (2020). Shokuba de korohara o okosanai tame ni [To prevent harassment at work due to Corona virus situation]. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Japan Press Weekly. (2020, April 8). Housing aid needed for people who became homeless due to COVID-19. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Kageyama, Y. (2020, January 24). Downtown Tokyo’s homeless fear removal ahead of Olympics. Japan Today. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Kim, J. (2015). The Politics of Survival and Care in Homeless Japan [Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan]. Deepblue.Google Scholar
Makiuchi, S. (2016). Kyū ni uchikira reta seikatsu hogo ‘mata rojo seikatsu ka’ [Suddenly facing discontinued livelihood protection “We now have to live on the street again?”]. The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2002). Homuresu no jiritsu no shien-tō ni kansuru tokubetsu sochi-hō [Act on Special Measures to Provide Support for Self Reliance of the Homeless]. Retrieved May 6, 2020.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2019). Hōmuresu no jittai ni kansuru zenkoku chōsa (gaisū chōsa) kekka ni tsuite [Results of the national research on the approximate number of homeless]. Retrieved on May 6, 2020.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (2019). Muryō teigaku shukuhakujo no setsubi oyobi un’ei ni kansuru kijun ni tsuite [Accommodational and administrational standards of free low-cost lodging]. Retrieved on May 15, 2020.Google Scholar
Murata, A. (2018). Daigaku ni okeru ta bunka taiken gakushū e no chosen [Challenge to multicultural experiential learning at university]. Tokyo: NakanishiyaGoogle Scholar
NPO Moyai. (2020, June 12). Tōkyōto e no yōbō shomei: ‘Shingata korona de sumai ibasho o ushinatta hito no tame ni’ orinpikku senshu-mura’ no ichibu o kaihō shite kudasai’ o teishutsu shimashita [Request signature to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government: “Please open part of the “Olympic Village” for those who have lost their home or whereabouts in the new Corona”]. Retrieved June 21, 2020.Google Scholar
Rich, M., & Ueno, H. (2020, March 26). Japan’s Virus Success Has Puzzled the World. Is Its Luck Running Out? The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2020, fromGoogle Scholar
Shirakawa, M. (2020, March 20). Japanese health centers struggle with huge demand for coronavirus tests. NHK World. Retrieved on April 15, 2020.Google Scholar
Shuk-ting, K. Y. (2013). Natural disaster and reconstruction in Asian economies: A global synthesis of shared experiences. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, D. A., Leufgen, J., & Cardinale, M. (2007). Homelessness. In Ritzer, G. (Ed.). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (pp. 2146–2147). Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.Google Scholar
Slater, D. & Ikebe, S. (2020, forthcoming). Homuresu takitashi voranteera to fuirudowa-ku [Volunteering and fieldwork in a homeless soup kitchen]. Murata Akiko, Ruigakusei to manabu fiurudowa-ku. [Doing fieldwork with Exchange students]. Nakanishi Publishing.Google Scholar
Slater, D. & Ikebe, S. (2020, April 15). Open Olympic facilities to protect Tokyo’s homeless from COVID-19. Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved March 16, 2020.Google Scholar
‘Shingata korona’ rojō seikatsu-sha, kyūfukin moraezu jūmin tōroku takai hādoru [“New Corona” People living on the street and cannot receive benefits. A high hurdle for resident registration]. (2020, May 2016). The Tokyo Shimbun. Retrieved June 12, 2020. Shokuba de baikin atsukai…’korohara’ hinpatsu [Treating germs at work… Frequent occurrence of harassment at work due to Corona virus situation]. (2020, May 8). The Sannichi. Retrieved June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Tokyo Metropolitan Government. (2018). Jūkyosōshitsufuanteishūrōsha-tō no jittai ni kansuru chōsa no kekka [Research on those with unstable housing and employment]. Retrieved on May 6th, 2020.Google Scholar
Tokyo Metropolitan Government. (2019). Rojō seikatsu-sha chiiki betsu gaisū chōsa ichiran [Statistics of rough sleepers]. Retrieved on May 11th, 2020, fromGoogle Scholar
Tokyo Metropolitan Government. (2020). Hosei jikō (subete fukushi hoken-kyoku yosan) [Amendments (all welfare and health bureau budget)]. Retrieved April 10, 2020.Google Scholar
Tokyo Challenge Net. (2020). Retrieved 12 June 2020, from Tsukuroi Tokyo Friend. (2020). Retrieved June 12, 2020, fromGoogle Scholar