Society Survey finds unexpected satisfaction among Japan's homeless

Officially, Japan has only 2,820 homeless, and their numbers are decreasing. My home country has only 9 million inhabitants and almost 20,000 homeless!


A recent survey by the Japanese welfare ministry found that the number of homeless individuals in the country had decreased year-over-year, reaching 2,820 as of January 2024. Surprisingly, approximately 40% of those surveyed expressed satisfaction with their current living situation. The survey excluded Ishikawa Prefecture due to the impact of the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Of the 2,820 homeless people, 2,575 were men, 172 were women, and 73 were people whose gender could not be determined due to wearing winter clothes or other reasons. By prefecture, Osaka had the largest number of street people with 856, followed by Tokyo with 624, Kanagawa with 420, Fukuoka with 163, Chiba with 121 and Aichi with 110. By location, 25.2% lived in city parks, 23.8% along roads, 22.6% along rivers and 6.2% at train stations. Meanwhile, the ageing of these people is progressing. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's 2021 survey on living conditions, the average age of the homeless was 63.6 years old. Those aged 70 and over accounted for 34.4%, or one in three, an increase of 14.7 percentage points since the 2016 survey.

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As for their future life, 40.9% of the homeless said that they were "fine with their current situation." In comparison, 17.5% said they wanted to "live in an apartment and find a job to support themselves," and 12.0% said they wanted to "live in an apartment and find light work while receiving welfare support."

I don't believe that figure of 2,820 for one second.

I believe the 2,820 number absolutely. I also am certain that what qualifies as homeless in the official numbers is not the same as what we mere laypeople would place the definition of homeless. Lies, damn lies, and statistics...and all that.