Despite having Japanese citizenship, homeless people cannot exercise voting rights guaranteed by the Constitution because they can't register their temporary accommodations as official places of residence.
There are no signs the situation will be taken up by candidates in the July 21 House of Councilors election.
"In a way, it is only natural that aspiring politicians are not interested in the homeless because they do not have the votes," said Hiromitsu Taniuchi, 67, who was formerly on the streets.