Many thousands of people are homeless in Japan. You see them around major train staions in Tokyo, on benches at local parks, and living in tent cities in the larger parks like Ueno and Yoyogi. Many are addicted to something (mainly alcohol), many are mentally ill and some appear to be workers who simply fell on rough times. During the Winter they sleep for several hours inside train stations, but on all but the coldest nights they must vacate for several hours (during the time the stations are closed). Japan is somewhat lenient on them. Most of the time they leave the tent cities alone. Many homeless pack up their belongs on large carts during the day, and those apparently are also left untouched. I don't intend to take many pictures of homeless Japanese or photograph them at their worst, but I hope to offer glimpses into their reality sometimes.

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Copyright Andrew Gray 2004