A side of Japan you don't hear too much about

The weekend before the folks arrived over I wandered off down to a place called Sinsekai near Tennoji with PJ and YN. The purpose of the trip was to see the old othello, shogi and majiong houses that are scattered through one of the covered over shopping streets...or lane more like it. The side of Japan I am talking about are the homeless people. There are so so many. It is unbelievable. The homeless people don't beg. You never see them (in the places I have been too at least) out on the street asking for money. They have small communities in the local parks, under railway bridges, down by the river, or anywhere they can get shelter. "Temporary" dwellings are erected and they buy second-hand car batteries to provide energy to power heaters or radios...it is incredible to see. Some of these guys just have their home on their bike and where they lay down is where they call home for the night.

I was talking to one of the guys down by the Yodogawa river one day. He lived in well constructed wooden "hut" with 3 rooms, built on stilts, keeping the base of the structure out of the water. he had lived there for 3 years and was quite happy there. His only vice was the evil weed (and I am not talking about the Bale, the artist formerly known as PW) of which he smoked 60 a day. His English was perfect and he had served in the merchant navy for 20 years before becoming a fisherman and then he packed it all in. The government give him a pension which is enough to keep him in food and essentials. Although the government men come to him every year to ask him to move, he always replies only if they provide him with an apartment or house. He said they also turn around then and leave.

The saddest thing is that the locals don't really seem to care or mind. It is just like home in many ways with this. However, some of these guys also spend their days playing othello, shogi or majiong. In the local park in Tennoji, there were a few games of shogi going on which had attracted a few onlookers. One guy was just interested in reading and keeping an eye on his fetching luggage (see above). But what one should notice that, even though his home, his dwelling is the carboard he is sitting on, he has still taken off his shoes so as not spoil the surface he will sit on/eat on/sleep in.

The houses that provided a venue for the games were crazy. Just stacks of tables and rows of old guys playing away. I took a sneaky photo just to show you. I didn't want to be obvious in case the owner came out and attacked my ninja style. As YN kept saying all afternoon "so dodgy around here". I used to play Othello with my grandfather JW when I was a kid. A great game and he always beat me. He let me win one day but I told him not to as then I would never learn.

The folks are here and having a ball. They are in Tokyo now for a few days and just called to say the place is amazing. I really should get up and see the place...

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