The gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen in Japan, and one attendant development is the rise of hinkon bijinesu (poverty businesses), enterprises that are blatant attempts to take advantage of people who are already poor.
The example most cited in the media is a practice called kakoiya, which means "enclosure company." These organizations recruit homeless people and install them in apartment buildings the company owns and/or manages. With a permanent address, these people can then apply for public assistance, which is deposited into a special account. The organization keeps most of the money, leaving a few thousand yen for each tenant.
Then there's oidashiya (literally "kick-out companies"), which also run apartment buildings, usually for the property owners. These companies solicit low-income tenants and act as guarantors for their rent, charging them a fee for the service on top of the usual security deposits and so-called gift money. If the tenant is even one month late on his or her rent, the company changes the locks and solicits a new tenant, starting the lucrative cycle again.