An interesting video series contrasting the differences between homelessness in Tokyo and Japan VS homelessness in North America.
I find this interesting because - if you're North American - and Canadian especially - homelessness is generally a "lifestyle choice" whereas in Japan it's generally a matter of unfortunate circumstance. In Calgary, the last 10 years, street people have raised their visibility by tenfold easily, in no small part due to the lack of policing and the new custom (paralleling India) of wandering into traffic to solicit change. When I lived in Calgary my route to work took me through 3 intersections that were "owned" by beggars - professionals - the same people year after year feeding their addictions and mental illness off the well-intended donations of Good Samaritans. In Nelson it's much the same - not the traffic wandering, but there's a high visibility of migrant homelessness that move here to prey upon the goodwill of tourists and hippies. Their "homeless" status is generally a choice reflecting their refusal to work and conform in any remedial respect to social norms. When I visited Japan I was impressed not only by the low visibility of the homeless, but by the lack of begging - in a city where the cost of living is easily double that of Calgary and the opportunities half.