Provision for the homeless in Japan is "crude," with more investment needed if the growing problem is to be addressed, according to a recent study by British experts.
They said the Japanese government should build more shelters to accommodate the estimated 25,000 people who sleep on the nation's streets every day.
Japan also needs to provide more support to allow people in shelters to move on to full-time jobs and ultimately find permanent accommodations.
Rodney Hedley, one of the experts who visited various homeless projects in Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama, said: "We were shocked to witness an advanced country such as Japan allowing so many cardboard cities to exist. From our view, we feel a major program of shelters/accommodations should be built."