Japanese Homeless Men in International Comparative Perspective by Professor Tom Gill

Professor Tom Gill of Meiji Gakuin University will present this fascinating lecture about homless people in Japan.

 

Homeless people in Japan first started to draw widespread attention in the mid-1990s, as the collapse of the Bubble Economy brought increasing numbers of blue tents and shacks along riverbanks and in large urban parks.

 

In 2002 the government passed the Homeless Self-Reliance Support Law, with a ten-year statute of limitations that means it will expire in 2012. An array of new institutions has been created, transforming the socioeconomic environment for homeless people in Japan.

 

For many years now I have been visiting homeless people in Japan, and also in the United States and Great Britain, in streets, parks and shelters. In this presentation I will discuss my encounters in Japan and elsewhere, and seek to place Japanese homeless men in international comparative perspective. I say “men” because most studies find that 97 to 99% of Japanese homeless people, and nearly all my informants, are male. This is one of the many areas where homelessness in Japan differs from the patterns found in other industrialized countries. Hence homelessness offers insights into gender, as well as class and culture, in contemporary Japan.

To reserve your place, please call the Japan Society office on 020 7828 6330 or email events@japansociety.org.uk .

 

Free – booking recommended
A pay bar is available before the lecture
(Please note that Oriental Club rules require gentlemen to wear a jacket and tie)