FILMS YOU WON'T SEE ANYWHERE ELSE
A documentry film about homelessness in Japan
Thursday the 25th of October at 20:00
"Kansai Kouen" is an ongoing project dedicated to informing and connecting people with interest in or concern for the struggle for dignity of existence by the "No-juku-sha" (野宿者) - the rough sleepers of Osaka and from all over Japan. "Public Blue" is a documentary short history and portrait of the homeless community in Japan.
When I went to Japan, besides the firework show of outdoor advertising and the trains that came on time, the Shibuya girls with their bleached hair and heavy tans, the suited salary men and the silent rush hour, something which quickly caught my attention were all the patches of blue tarpaulin which seemed to line rivers and canals, fill parks and occupy the back and waste spaces of the country's major cities. These blue tarpaulins are the trade mark of the homes of the Japanese urban homeless. Homes of the homeless? It struck me early on that homelessness in Japan was different. Three major points distinguished for me, homelessness in Japan from homelessness as I had known it on the streets of London: one was the fact that the vast majority of Japan's homeless in fact live in makeshift homes they have constructed for themselves. Another was how homeless and drug addiction do not go together the way they do here, and finally not only the fact that begging is as good as non-existent in Japan but also the fact that a large percentage of the Japanese homeless population do in fact work to survive and sustain themselves. The collecting of empty cans for sale is scrap is standard, co-operating to collect and re-sell dropped magazines and comics is common, some have even gone so far as to open shops selling salvage! I was also struck by how strong the sense of pride many homeless preserve.
Kansai Kouen's film, gives an insight into this fascinating world, their hardships, the precarious nature of their existence and their collective mobilisation for resistance and cooperation for survival and dignity. This film was shown as part of the World Social Forum 2005 and is to be shown as part of the Yamagata Film Festival (http://www.yidff.jp/home.html) this month among other places - this is your chance to see it in the UK!
This is their site:
http://www.kansaikouen.org/
The film maker will be present to answer questions and additional short films will be shown about homelessness and squatting in this country and others.
Venue
RampART Social Centre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RampART_Social_Centre
Address
15 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA (near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
07050 618445
rampart@mutualaid.org
Map
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=534641&y=181230&z=0&sv=E1+2LA&st=2&pc=E1+2LA&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf
Images
I have posted with this article some of my own images of homelessness in Japan for people's interest. I have others if anyone is interested. Note the squat shop selling salvage and the vegetable and flower gardens
Links
Comming
ALL THOUGHTS, LINKS, EVENTS, COMMENTS RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS IN JAPAN AND AROUND THE WORLD AS WELL AS FEEDBACK FROM THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN THE FILM WELCOME
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