2022 Volume 57 Issue 3 Pages 816-823
In Japan, the term “homeless” is officially defined as people sleeping rough, and wider homelessness such as people living in temporary accommodation are not recognised in statutory systems. “Tokyo Umbrella Fund”, a private initiative to collect donations from citizens and fund non-profit activities to secure emergency accommodation for various groups of people, has for the first time established a framework to respond to homelessness as a whole without dividing the population according to their demographics. By examining non-profits’ activities under the Fund, this study has verified that homelessness affects people from different age groups, gender, nationality and family structure in Tokyo. It seems that statutory systems tend to fail to address people’s urgent or short-term needs for accommodation. The study also argues that a framework to respond to homelessness as a whole avoids ‘who deserves’ attitudes and promotes a society that accepts and responds to anyone who is in need.
