A group of more than 200 homeless people from across the country rallied in front of the Diet building on Friday, demanding the immediate passage of a bill to assist the nation's growing homeless population.
The draft legislation, submitted by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan to the current extraordinary Diet session, would oblige the central and local governments to provide employment opportunities and medical services to the homeless and help them find a place to live.
The group, comprising people from Tokyo and the cities of Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, submitted a petition with nearly 20,000 signatures. Kazuo Tanaka, a 64-year-old homeless person from Osaka, said that what he needs is employment rather than temporary shelters or food aid.
"I lived OK until a lack of work left me out on the streets in February," he said. "I want to ask the government to create employment for us."
Currently, Tokyo and several other municipal governments run programs to help homeless people become self reliant, but participants in the rally said that a national level initiative is required.
"It has to be an all round effort, including employment, education and medical and residential assistance. Such efforts are beyond the capability of local municipalities," said Minoru Yamada, head of an Osaka nonprofit organization assisting the homeless. "We want the bill to be enacted before winter comes."
Yamada said that an average of two people die in Osaka every day due to insufficient access to shelter.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry estimates that there were 20,450 homeless nationwide as of October 1999, the latest figure available.