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White Guy In Kabukicho - Homeless?

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Today, I was walking through Kabukicho as I usually do around the lunch hour. Today, I saw something I hadn't seen before...

I saw this guy bending over into one of those big recycle bins you see next to the vending machines. I was surprised when he came backup for air and he was a white dude. He clearly was wearing dirty clothes and looked pretty ragged....

He was diving back into the recycle bins and drinking whatever he could find that was leftover in the bin. I only watched him briefly as I approached and eventually passed him.

I think that was a first for me... seeing what appeared to be a homeless white guy bin diving....
 
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A long-haired man? If so i've seen him late at night a few weeks ago, searching in the bins near the batting center.
I was surprised too when i noticed he was white...
 
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vck_js said:
A long-haired man? If so i've seen him late at night a few weeks ago, searching in the bins near the batting center.
I was surprised too when i noticed he was white...
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Yes, that's him! It was near the batting cages again today... just across from that big flower shop on the other side of the street.
 
I remember a homeless white man sleeping in the park of Osaka's Kamagasaki district, about five years ago?
 
Ches said:
There are many ways to make a living in japan. Esp if you are white. Teaching english or maybe some factory jobs. I wonder how he got in such situation.
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He could have lost his visa, overstaying whatever... It's very uncommon to see this but maybe something like this could be the case. Or he just can't handle finances....
 
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i got no idea how you all got your visa and your jobs, but i had (and im sure will have) enough days without food here... i also had to sleep outside, or at mcdonalds...
so let me assure you, it is not easy to get a job or a visa, especially on your own...
not anyone can do thay engrish thing and if you dont have any income, its difficukt to handle finances...
unless you know his story, i would refrain from blaming him... there sure are people who brought it upon themselves, but there are mote people who are just shunned by society...

there are also people, who chose to live like that... it was very common in japan to be "sort of homeless"...
 
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Ive seen him once too. Hanging out with that big homeless group that live at the Seibu-Shinjuku station, that was around summer last year.
 
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vondoom said:
i got no idea how you all got your visa and your jobs, but i had (and im sure will have) enough days without food here... i also had to sleep outside, or at mcdonalds...
so let me assure you, it is not easy to get a job or a visa, especially on your own...
not anyone can do thay engrish thing and if you dont have any income, its difficukt to handle finances...
unless you know his story, i would refrain from blaming him... there sure are people who brought it upon themselves, but there are mote people who are just shunned by society...

there are also people, who chose to live like that... it was very common in japan to be "sort of homeless"...
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I didn't see anyone blaming him.
it's just surprising as a foreigner can be deported so we don't usually see homeless foreigners in Japan.
 
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saying that someone cant handle finances, or thinking that anyone can just get a job in japan, about someone who apparently cant, is blaming him... because it is suggested that he could have done better, while forgetting that he maybe just didnt have a chance and forgetting that there are people who dont have it that easy in a foreign country... i dont think his favourite restaurant is called "garbage dump"...

also, why is it surprising to see homeless foreigners? were all humans, there is no difference between japanese and non japanese, as long as blood flows through or veins (or the eye is black)...
 
You are getting mighty defensive over this homeless guy.

The main point people were trying to make, that seems to have passed you by is that it's "unusual" to see a homeless white guy in Japan.

Nobody is blaming him for being homeless, as nobody knows his story, what you are calling blame is people suggesting possible reasons why. Nobody is also saying white guys, or guys of and racial background cannot be homeless, we are talking about a specific situation, a white guy in Japan

The fact is the vast majority of "white" people in Japan are here on visas where any change in circumstances could lead to the visa being revoked and the person being deported. Having no fixed abode would definitely put you into this category, as immigration are unable to locate you. Therefore he's either flying under the radar, or here as a permanent resident, which makes him even more rare.

I understand, some people do struggle to make ends meet due to circumstances beyond their control, but typically immigration step in and you find yourself on a plane back home.
 
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vondoom -- people are talking about homeless white people, not homeless foreigners. please do not conflate the two.
and you questioning people's surprise is strange seeing how almost all white people in Japan either work or become house husbands.
 
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vondoom said:
saying that someone cant handle finances, or thinking that anyone can just get a job in japan, about someone who apparently cant, is blaming him... because it is suggested that he could have done better, while forgetting that he maybe just didnt have a chance and forgetting that there are people who dont have it that easy in a foreign country... i dont think his favourite restaurant is called "garbage dump"...

also, why is it surprising to see homeless foreigners? were all humans, there is no difference between japanese and non japanese, as long as blood flows through or veins (or the eye is black)...
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Yeah, the point wasn't because he seems homeless, the point was that he was white.
Unless he's one of those people with J-nationality...

I'm tempted to go find him today and talk to him and get his story.
 
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saturday said:
vondoom -- people are talking about homeless white people, not homeless foreigners. please do not conflate the two.
and you questioning people's surprise is strange seeing how almost all white people in Japan either work or become house husbands.
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"white" people are supposed to be foreigners in Japan aren't they ?
 
TAG Manager said:
Yeah, the point wasn't because he seems homeless, the point was that he was white.
Unless he's one of those people with J-nationality...

I'm tempted to go find him today and talk to him and get his story.
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btw, I consider japanese people to be white, I see what you're talking about but I'd rather say "western/caucasian".
 
I didn't see him before i guess.

Its so weird to me how a white person could be homeless here. I bet the police would question him. And then what? Homeless guy pulls a passport out of his back pocket and shows them that he is a permanent resident/japanese citizen so that they should leave him alone diving in garbage?
 
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User#8628 said:
I didn't see him before i guess.

Its so weird to me how a white person could be homeless here. I bet the police would question him. And then what? Homeless guy pulls a passport out of his back pocket and shows them that he is a permanent resident/japanese citizen so that they should leave him alone diving in garbage?
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Pretty much... if someone is holding a PR status or a Japan passport -- then that's exactly what happens. I'm assuming that he's been stopped before and he must have shown some sort of ID, otherwise he wouldn't be out on the street.

If no valid ID > taken to local police box/station > once nationality/status is determined > (ok: released, not ok: immigration gets involved)

e-smile said:
btw, I consider japanese people to be white, I see what you're talking about but I'd rather say "western/caucasian".
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Understood. That's a good point... I think it's fair to say either Asian or Caucasian as a base point.
 
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Ches said:
There are many ways to make a living in japan. Esp if you are white. Teaching english or maybe some factory jobs. I wonder how he got in such situation.
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I'm not disagreeing with that, but there are several ways an old White man can end up homeless too.

Also men are more likely to end up homeless, because it's less likely people will accept taking care of them and they are less likely to be in the position to inherit money from a deceased spouse.

1) Married for years, being taken care of by wife.

Wife divorces him late in life or dies, and he goes through all his savings. Too old to get hired and lacking in employable skills. Age discrimination in the hiring process is a very real problem in Japan.

2) Wife passed away and he's mentally ill.

If he has no family willing to take care of him and has exhausted savings, then being homeless is a possibility.

A lot of homeless people are mentally ill or can be suffering diseases that affect the brain.

3) Bankruptcy at a very advanced age.
 
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TAG Manager said:
Pretty much... if someone is holding a PR status or a Japan passport -- then that's exactly what happens. I'm assuming that he's been stopped before and he must have shown some sort of ID, otherwise he wouldn't be out on the street.

If no valid ID > taken to local police box/station > once nationality/status is determined > (ok: released, not ok: immigration gets involved)



Understood. That's a good point... I think it's fair to say either Asian or Caucasian as a base point.
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It doesn't seem to me that someone who's homeless can keep around a valid passport for long but it could work for a few years.
Still i think police would push for a foreign homeless person to go to their ambassy for help, even if they are permanent recident.

Caucasian is a really weird term though. It's a location and the people who live there don't even look like the people the word describes. I don't know how it came to the use it has now.
 
e-smile said:
btw, I consider japanese people to be white, I see what you're talking about but I'd rather say "western/caucasian".
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Asians are not White. I'm international minded and endorse interracial and international couples, but there is a distinction between the groups.
 
e-smile said:
"white" people are supposed to be foreigners in Japan aren't they ?
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white people aren't supposed to be anything anywhere except be human.

calling japanese people white makes no sense. at their whitest they are pale-yellow asians. so go ahead and call japanese people white...
anyways, this guy has an interesting story.
 
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