Neighbors agree to Kita-Shinjuku homeless shelter

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will open a temporary homeless shelter late this month in Kita-Shinjuku for people forced to leave a JR Shinjuku Station shantytown after a fire.

Officials said they can proceed with the plan now that local residents have been persuaded to allow the controversial project, officials said Thursday. The city will temporarily convert an old fire station building into a facility to accommodate the people and provide them with job-counseling services.

The plan was necessitated when homeless people were forced to leave a cardboard village in an underground concourse of JR Shinjuku Station following a Feb. 7 fire in which four people were killed. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Officials said about 130 homeless people are now staying at a public facility in Ota Ward, and that about 80 will move to the new facility, which will operate for six months. The remaining people will move to an existing facility in Shinjuku called Sakura-ryo, government officials said.