After living homeless in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward for seven years, a 53-year-old former leather tanner was finally helped off the street last year with public livelihood assistance.

It was not his homelessness or long-term unemployment that made him qualified for assistance, but rather the possible consequences of such a life: he was taken to a hospital after passing out from hypertension.

"I am lucky to be hypertensive," he said. "My friends from my homeless period still live on the street, collecting garbage."