The idea for this series came up when we were walking our dog through Yoyogi Park about a year ago. Every time we go to the dog run, an elderly man is always sweeping the surrounding paths, raking leaves, or picking up litter. He did not dress like a park attendant, but was always dressed casually. At the outset of this photo series, I decided to visit the homeless village in the park to take pictures, and sure as daylight, there was this same man sweeping the path in front of the homeless shelters. As I took a closer look, I realized that he was homeless, but he was also quite healthy and clean. That is where my interest was piqued and just had to see where these guys were living and maybe follow some around with a long range lens.

All of the shelters are structured with tarps draped to keep rain out of the living quarters, but that is not all. A closer look reveals trails cut out to the entrance of the shelters and quite sustainable living quarters for a homeless living setup.

Complete with a small Honda power generator, bicycle with baskets, and water collection for doing laundry. This quonset style setup is quite fancy even with a well kept garden and potted plants surrounding the tent. Not that I am at all jealous or would I give up my life in this warm house for such a living quarter, but you have to admit – this is not a regular homeless situation. This is far more comfortable than the cardboard boxes, immobility, and vulnerability that we are used to when the subject of homeless lifestyles comes to mind.

This is the gentleman that came out of that tent. He is clean, healthy, and has bicycle transportation like just about anybody else living in the city. Is he just refusing to pay rent? Not capable of paying rent like a regular person? Whatever the case is, for what Japan defines as homeless is far less destitute than most other countries in the world. Here is another homeless village that was recently developed slightly further down the hill near the west entrance of Yoyogi Park.

These are structures complete with doors and quite habitable. The only thing that explains this is that the livelihood, either because of post-retirement fixed incomes or part-time wages, do not allow these poor people to pay rent or pay a mortgage like the rest of us. They are functionally homeless, but otherwise healthy and mobile. A good look at the inhabitants shows that they are not at the brink of fate, but actually comfortable with their situation.

These guys in shelters below a pedestrian crosswalk in the park do not appear to be suffering from sanitary issues, and seem to have all the tools necessary to carry-on a life in temporary shelters. I would imagine that this would be the first step toward trying to get an abode in one of the luxury villages shown earlier in the article.

Here we have a shelter situated right off of one of the open meadows in the park, so that it gets a bit more sun and is closer to a public faucet and in close proximity to a public toilet; essentially providing running water for the inhabitant. While I do not envy the situation, if I were to ever fall into dire straits and needed to resort to a homeless lifestyle, I would definitely want to be in Japan and specifically a Yoyogi Park homeless person.

This is a shelter away from the other two villages on the other side of Yamate Street right next to the event space, close to a public bathroom, and has running water about 30 meters away. I am scratching my head at this point. Can you call this homeless? Life doesn’t seem to be all that bad, except for the lack of extra cash, disheveled clothing, and a lot of spare time.