A few days ago in this blog we talked about the unemployment rate in Japan , which is currently at 5.2%, a figure never before seen in the country. But the really serious is the figure of the poverty level, currently hovering around 15.7% of the population, the highest number in industrialized countries. According to the Government about 15,800 Japanese citizens are homeless and remain in the streets, but this number is probably much higher because only in Tokyo is estimated that some 10,000 people homeless.

The Japanese have never openly acknowledged the problem so far. And is that the postwar economic boom were proud to have gotten a new society that divided the country's wealth among its citizens, without leaving anyone out of it. But since the crisis of the 90, things have been changing gradually and it is increasingly common to see blue tents of the homeless in the parks of Tokyo.

Fortunately the Japanese public has realized the problem and is working on the matter. Levels of homelessness are far from the figures for countries like the U.S., but it is good to cut the core issue, since the institutions will take action.

JaponPop

Photos: Doctorow , matthewmcvickar , isadocafe , evdg , 43351850 @ N00