Working on the Margins Japan's Precariat and Working Poor

In recent years the concept of an 'homogenous middle class society' is being contested in the sociological discourse on Japan. What can be identified as a new phenomenon are the highly educated working poor. They experience an immense disparity between their expected high social status attained through education and their actual precarious working conditions. This shift in groups affected by precariousness has spurred the national and international public discourse on working poor. Those possibly living under the most precarious conditions in Japan are the homeless, whose typical and mostly illegal shelters can be found in parks, under highway bridges, and in train stations in nearly every Japanese city. Those who are homeless are not only deprived of economic security, they often lack emotional stability and physical well-being, too. Furthermore, they experience a total absence of privacy. Homelessness, therefore, does not only mean lacking shelter or a place to live; it also involves the absence of normal patterns of social relations. Three categories of homeless are discussed - day laborers, Haken-workers and Freeters. Older men are increasingly represented in these groups.