Poverty rarely stares you in the face in Japan. There is almost no begging, and the homeless hide in the shadows. In Osaka's Nishinari ward, where many destitute live, bottles and stones mark out sleeping spots on the pavement, but belongings are stacked away neatly during the day. Nearby hostels charge 1,000 yen ($12.50) a night for those one rung up the poverty ladder. Dozens of pairs of slippers in the porch are a stark indication of how many stay there.
In Saitama, a bedroom community north-west of Tokyo, the scourge of poverty is well concealed. But the discovery of a dead family of three-an elderly man crippled by a bad back, his wife, and their 39-year-old son-has again drawn attention to its existence. Their emaciated bodies had lain in their home for weeks. With only single-yen coins left, they had been unable to pay for heating, and may have died of hypothermia. (The Economist)
Poverty rarely stares you in the face in Japan. There is almost no begging, and the homeless hide in the shadows. In Osaka's Nishinari ward, where many destitute live, bottles and stones mark out sleeping spots on the pavement, but belongings are stacked away neatly during the day. Nearby hostels charge 1,000 yen ($12.50) a night for those one rung up the poverty ladder. Dozens of pairs of slippers in the porch are a stark indication of how many stay there.
In Saitama, a bedroom community north-west of Tokyo, the scourge of poverty is well concealed. But the discovery of a dead family of three-an elderly man crippled by a bad back, his wife, and their 39-year-old son-has again drawn attention to its existence. Their emaciated bodies had lain in their home for weeks. With only single-yen coins left, they had been unable to pay for heating, and may have died of hypothermia. (The Economist)