So that's the reputation American cities are getting internationally. Something to really be ashamed about.

1. Japan didn’t dump all of their institutionalized mental people on the street.

2. For whose who are actually poor and need help there is subsidized housing (eg UR Chintai) and ok benefits if your income is low enough.

3. There is a large and bored police force, so people acting out and drug addicts don’t last long on the street.

https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/05/18/as-crime-dries-up-...

Police officers spent a week of their time watching an unlocked trap car with a crate of beer inside it.

That being said, I’ve seen much worse in India and SE Asia, but developing countries will be like that.

There is a woman who runs a program to move homeless men from the cities to rural areas that are short on labor. Her organization offers to relocate them and train them for agricultural work. Most of the homeless men she finds are willing to work but have fallen into a spiral of shame and are paralyzed by it.

Japan is a tough place if you have thin skin or are prone to self pity. You can basically be cut from the team if you aren’t a player. You’ll find hikikomori and others who can’t keep up lurking beneath the surface—-often they fail a test or disappoint someone and never recover. Usually, these people have a home, though, with family or someone who takes them in.