The number of homeless people living in Tokyo's Sanya district and surrounding areas such as Ueno, Asakusa and near the Sumida River increased 30 percent from last year to 1,400, a homeless supporters' group said Oct. 10.The group, which helps homeless people in Taito and Sumida Wards, conducted the yearly survey by calling on every person living outside or in vinyl tents in the two wards one day in September. In a similar survey of the Shinjuku area, the group found that there are at least 550 homeless people living in the underground concourse or along the outside of JR Shinjuku Station.Megumi Mizuta, the group's leader, said the actual number of homeless in Tokyo is far larger than the figure released by the Tokyo Metropolitan government in August when it estimated the total number at 3,300.
