When I lived in New York, I often saw homeless people on the streets in Manhattan. We'd donate canned soup, and cookies to them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The looked empty, like they didn't choose to live this kind of life. And that's what I thought homelesses are.
I was suprised to find out that some homeless people in Japan wanted to be homeless. And also, their homes seem quite cozy. Using blue sheets as their home, keeping their favorite books, or magazines, some people even have TV's in their so called "houses." I saw a documentary about homeless people in Shibuya once, and they interviewed a man who gets 80 thousand yen a month from the government. 80 thousand yen is a big amount of money for a homeless, and he also agreed on that. He used this money for gambling and buys luxuries like watches and sunglasses with the profit he's made from the gamble.
This interview changed my impression on homeless people. It was also kind of sad to know that there are people who are struggling to live, with scraps of food from the garbage, and looking for money on the streets, under vending machines, but then, there are people who use money from the gvernment to live, and they say it's better than living with a job.
But you know, living in blue sheet tents is something only homeless in Japan do. Because I've never seen them in New York.
