SHIHO FUKADA

Lonely Planet Kamagasaki

“There is no work now. If big companies like Toyota are firing people, why should there be any work here for us? If big banks in the U.S. collapse, why should there be any work here for us? “ says Hiroshi Nakao, 59 year old, former construction day laborer, who currently survives by picking through garbage and selling what he can. He is one of the hundreds of graying men in Kamagasaki, Osaka, Japan. It used to be a thriving day laborer’s town. Today it is home to about 25,000 mainly elderly former day laborers, with an estimated 1,300 who are homeless. It used to be called a “laborers town” but now it’s called a “welfare town” – a dumping ground of old men. Alcoholism, poverty, street death, suicide, TB and most of all loneliness prevail here. They don’t have family ties and live and die alone as social outcasts from the mainstream “salary man” culture.

Labor towns, like Kamagasaki, are on the verge of extinction in Japan. According to the most recent government report, its economy, the world’s second largest, is deteriorating at its worst pace since the oil crisis of the 1970s, setting off more unemployment among young and educated and lay-offs among big corporations like Toyota, Nissan, Canon, Sharp, Panasonic, NEC, Hitachi, and TDK and lists go on. It is even more hopeless for graying men of the construction industry here to get work. “I’m mentally prepared that I will never get another job for the rest of my life, but I really want to work.” Says a 64 year old former carpenter who sleeps in the park.

The average age of the workers here is 58, just below the age of 65, the official age to be eligible for government assistance. “They are stuck in the middle. They are too old for this work but too young to get government assistance. No work, nowhere to go, and nobody to rely on. Some guys just kill themselves. I understand the feeling.” Says Yasuo Miyake, 65, a former construction worker currently living on government assistance.

People wait in line to receive charity meal January,2009, in Osaka, Japan.
   
An elderly man works as a security guard, holding a sign of a funeral home January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. Security guard is one of few jobs that are available to elderly men.
   
Day labors gather at a laundry mat January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
People wait in line to receive charity meal at church January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
   
A man plays pachinko January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
LEFT: A pair of slippers are seen at a cheap motel where many day labors live January 16, in Osaka, Japan. RIGHT: Hiromi Okamoto, 74, lives in a tiny room paid by welfare January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
LEFT: Kazuki, 65, stands in front of his shack built in a park JanuarY, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. RIGHT: A trash can is seen at a laundry mat January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
LEFT: A picture of Mt. Fuji is hung under highway near a homeless man sleeps, January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. RIGHT: Homeless day laborers warm themselves up by fire January 15, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
LEFT: Hiromi Minakami, 70, lives in a tiny room paid by welfare January,2009 in Osaka, Japan. RIGHT: A pillow of Hiromi Minakami, 70, who lives in a tiny room paid by welfare, is seen January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
LEFT: Doors of a cheap motel where many day labors and welfare recipients live are seen January,2009 in Osaka, RIGHT: Keys of cheap motel where many day labors and welfare recipients stay are seen January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
   
A man walks up stairs of neighborhood subway January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
   
LEFT: A sign that warns danger of drugs is seen January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. RIGHT: An intoxicated man tries to keep standing JanuarY, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
Tamiichi Kuwata, 65, who depends on welfare, is seen January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
LEFT: Yasu, an unemployed day laborer, drinks $1 sake January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.RIGHT: Cheap sake tabs lie around in a shack January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
An intoxicated man crawls on the street January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
Men mop a floor of a labor center, which is sponsored by government and provides main source of income to some January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
   
A sumo wrestler is seen on communal TV screen in the park where many homeless people sleep January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
A man sleeps outside January,2009 in Osaka, Japan.
     
  
A man stands by window January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan. Suicide, like jumping from building, is common in this community.
  
Hiroshi, 58, unemployed day laborer, collects cans for living January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.
  
The remains of workers with no relatives sit in state at a locker room of an NGO January, 2009 in Osaka, Japan.