Homeless man seeks welfare payments

Monday 07th July, 01:59 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Latest 15 of 28 Total Comments Show All

rajakumar at 05:38 PM JST - 7th July

Hope he wins. Japan's apathy,homeless and poor on the rise. No excuse for not helping japanese people first, before giving aid in foreign nations.
Sarge at 05:52 PM JST - 7th July

"they ( homeless ) disturb the wa"

Usually they don't disturb anyone.
Reader1 at 06:16 PM JST - 7th July

I have lived in Japan for more than seven years now and on my last job my contract wasn't renewed. When I went to unemployment I was rejected due to a new law enacted Oct 7th 2007. You now have to work 11 days in a month or you get no unemployment. Well I was very sick and unaware of the new law so I missed it by 3 days. None of the employees were told of the new law and most foreigners don't even know they can get unemployment. Why don't they have the employers have the employees sign a paper that states the law has been changed! I would have went to work half dead if I would have known! God forbid that there should be a level of communication here.
bamboohat at 07:59 PM JST - 7th July

I used to have a Japanese tutor (in japan) that was very concerned about the homeless in England. (her boyfriend was a brit). I asked her about the homeless people here (as I had seen many many blue tent cities) her honest reply:

"Homeless people here choose to be homeless becasue they don't want to work. They don't like the stress."

This was from an intelligent, bilingual, college educated woman who had traveled abroad.
serindipity at 08:26 PM JST - 7th July

"Homeless people here choose to be homeless because they don't want to work. They don't like the stress."

Ah yes, Japan, the country of urban myth believers. I would like to see a thread listing all the urban myths you have heard of.

So, to get unemployment help you have to be employed. That makes sense in a Japanese kind of way, doesn't it?
Triple888 at 09:02 PM JST - 7th July

Hope he still has his national insurance number.
Dubya at 09:09 PM JST - 7th July

Japan already does too much in regard to "helping" the homeless. That is not really a legitimate function of government. In any case, food, shelter, and counseling are already available for those willing to avail themselves of help. Those who don't, well that's their choice. The Japanese tutor knew what she was talking about.
usaexpat at 11:57 PM JST - 7th July

Well, that's always the catch 22 that the homeless face. No address, no benefits. Why don't we assign some sort of a number to those receiving welfare and then they can get payments without a fixed address. It seems to me that the system is missing those who are most in need.
nigelboy at 10:01 AM JST - 8th July

So, to get unemployment help you have to be employed.

Nope. To get unemployment benefits under the unemployment insurance, you had to be employed at least 11 days a month for twelve months. The operative word here is "had to be".

That makes sense in a Japanese kind of way, doesn't it?

Yep. Keep at it. As I stated, "But then again, we are talking about the JT crowd here so why bother.."
usaletterhead at 06:20 AM JST - 9th July

re:dubya.

I can say without 20% of a doubt that you have NEVER been homeless! Be homeless for about a year and go through those services and then if you still feel comfortable making that same statement Go right on ahead!

Good riddings!
pointofview at 03:05 PM JST - 9th July

"Homeless people here choose to be homeless becasue they don't want to work. They don't like the stress."> The Japanese tutor knew what she was talking about.

Thats a typical comment that falls out of most Japanese peoples mouths. These are the people that dont question anything their government does and just say "shoganai" Does anyone really know what adversity some homeless people have gone through during their lives. As I stated earlier if you can give huge bonuses to overpaid individuals you can spare some money and try to assist those i need. "Lets make the world a better place for me" seems to be the way of the world these days.
Zen_Builder at 03:25 PM JST - 9th July

pointofview.

I fully agree.

One thing that opened my eyes I used to walk past a few homeless just after I started working in S.Africa. Often gave them a bit of my lunch-box(sandwiches), etc.

One day(just before X-mas) one of the guys approached me and asked if I can spare a bit of soap and and an old razor. So I asked why, he said he wants to be clean and neat for X-mas.

Yeah, I said sure no problem and asked him to come along and fetch it. On the way to my pad we got talking, turns out he worked for my company but hit the liquor after a divorce and got fired. He named guys I knew and I confirmed his story later.

In the end some of his old colleagues and myself helped him get back on his feet and find a new job.

Being a biker I often help out with fund-raisers, toy-runs, etc.

It can happen to any of us.
nisegaijin at 10:20 AM JST - 10th July

welfare my foot! why i have to pay taxes to this bum?
pointofview at 12:03 PM JST - 10th July

nisegiajin.

Beacuase it`s a benefit to society. Why do I have to pay taxes to give 500,000yen bonuses twice a year to racist people at city hall?
mikihouse at 09:01 AM JST - 13th July

the guy was fired from his job, he wants to find a new job but who is going to hire an old man? He is trying to get one but he has no permanent address (haven't heard of internet cafe refugees?) and the government instead of giving billions of yens to help Africa should first look at their country and help people who are in need so that they can contribute to a better society. I think I will be seeing slums and ghettos in Japan in the near future.