I found this video very interesting.  Japan has it's share of societal problems and although it can boast almost 0% homelessness, there is a dark side to this statistic their society acknowledges and accepts.

What I find admirable in Japan's society is their self respect and conducting themselves with honor.  No matter how life sh*ts on them, there is no room for living in shame in their lives.

The biggest difference between the US and Japan in regards to homeless is the ACLU.

What I find admirable in Japan's society is their self respect and conducting themselves with honor.  No matter how life sh*ts on them, there is no room for living in shame in their lives.

Are you referring to the suicide rate?

Are you referring to the suicide rate?

I'm sure suicide contributes to their low rate of homelessness.  Japan's culture and suicide has a deep history.

It is much lower but I wouldn't say almost zero. Living there I definitely saw a decent number in the big cities. You don't see them as much and if you do you can't always recognize they are homeless.

I watched another special where one guy explained how they have a much lower problem with homelessness because they don't have the drug problem we have and also because they don't have so many war vets with PTSD. There are other factors as well of course but those were big ones.

In Japan, public shaming and stigma of those suspected of taking drugs has
developed into a useful tool for the authorities to remind citizens of the country’s
strict moral code on drug use: If you get high you are not just letting yourself down,
you are also letting society down. To some anti-drugs campaigners in the West
who oppose drug law reform, Japan is held up as a shining example of how strictly
enforced drug laws and a zero-tolerance attitude towards drug users leads to
minimal levels of use, addiction and associated crimes. Yet things are not quite
what they seem.

It is true that the data shows drug use in Japan to be far lower than in most parts
of the world. The most recent government figures show that in 2017, 1.3 million
adults—in a country with a population of 126 million people—admitted they had tried
illegal drugs at least once in their life, most commonly cannabis and inhalants, such
as paint thinner and glue. This is a vastly smaller proportion than in the West, where
a half of Americans and a third of British people admit to having ever used illegal drugs.
There is a similar difference with teenagers, with only 0.5 percent of Japanese 15 to
18 year olds admitting to ever taking drugs in 2018, compared to between a third and
a half of their American equivalents.

But these numbers likely downplay the reality, according to David Brewster, a criminologist
at the Criminology Research Centre of Ryukoku University in Kyoto. Drug prevalence data
is gathered via anonymized self-reporting surveys sent to government officials or filled in
by children in classrooms, and even though the surveys are anonymous, in a country with
strict anti-drug attitudes and where officials are required to inform on drug users, these
figures are likely to significantly under-estimate the country’s actual levels of drug use.

Japan is far from being a drug-free nation, especially when you drill down into certain
subcultures. Research carried out by academics among 300 rave-goers in Tokyo found
that almost one in 10 said they had taken MDMA, compared to 0.2 per cent of the
general public. Of course, people at raves are more likely to use MDMA than most people,
but the research also shows that people are more comfortable answering honestly when
it is not government officials doing the asking.

... She told me Tokyo’s drug scene is a lot bigger than the government would like to admit.
“I have a lot of friends who like to get high on coke, LSD, weed, you name it. Everyone is
a little secretive about it, so people don’t know much about it, even Japanese people.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xg8q7k/how-stigma-created-japans-hidden-drug-problem

Never trust government stats without multiple sources of independent verification.

This is just an opinion, but I think not having as bad as a drug problem that the US has is a factor.

I go walking in various areas and often see druggies smoking the pipe or injecting.  And this is right on the sidewalk in plain view.  I've seen the same in Vegas as well.  So these are the only 2 cities that i've personally XP'd.  But Mrs. CMO says she often sees the same in Seattle, Portland, San Fran, San Diego, and San Jose.

I have friends in Japan who live in various areas and they don't see people using drugs on the street.

This is just an opinion, but I think not having as bad as a drug problem that the US has is a factor.

I go walking in various areas and often see druggies smoking the pipe or injecting.  And this is right on the sidewalk in plain view.  I've seen the same in Vegas as well.  So these are the only 2 cities that i've personally XP'd.  But Mrs. CMO says she often sees the same in Seattle, Portland, San Fran, San Diego, and San Jose.

I have friends in Japan who live in various areas and they don't see people using drugs on the street.

The first city I ever visited with a rampant, publicly visible homeless population was Washington, DC.  That was when I was visiting my girlfriend and her parents in Maryland while we were in college (1982).  I never saw this problem in NC no matter which city or town I traveled to.  To see that happening in the capitol of one of the greatest and richest nations on Earth made me sad and angry.  We send people into space.  We cure diseases.  But we can't find a way to get people living on the streets some help?  Not just financial help, but solutions.

When you consider drug use and drug addiction were not uncommon in the 80s, I tend to think drugs and homelessness are symptoms of underlying conditions: mental illness, cost of health care, poverty, unemployment, education, social norms, etc.  When you're hearing voices or clinically depressed, using drugs to escape the pain and torment looks attractive.

How many addicts are that way because they suffer from undiagnosed mental conditions -- conditions they choose to ease by self-medicating?

Our system supports and enables the homeless to continue to be homeless and to do what they do.  While it's true nobody can clean up their lives until they want to do it, that doesn't mean we should make it easy or less embarrassing.  Provide services, but expect something of value in return -- work at a shelter or food bank, clean up the trash around homeless camps, etc.  Living on the backs of working Americans should be discouraged.  instead, it's an accepted Liberal policy.

The first city I ever visited a city with a rampant, publicly visible homeless population was Washington, DC.  That was when I was visiting my girlfriend and her parents in Maryland while we were in college (1982).  I never saw this problem in NC no matter which city or town I traveled to.  To see that happening in the capitol of one of the greatest and richest nations on Earth made me sad and angry.  We send people into space.  We cure diseases.  But we can't find a way to get people living on the streets some help?  Not just financial help, but solutions.

When you consider drug use and drug addiction were not uncommon in the 80s, I tend to think drugs and homelessness are symptoms of underlying conditions: mental illness, cost of health care, poverty, unemployment, education, social norms, etc.  When you're hearing voices or clinically depressed, using drugs to escape the pain and torment looks attractive.

How many addicts are that way because they suffer from undiagnosed mental conditions -- conditions they choose to ease by self-medicating?

Our system supports and enables the homeless to continue to be homeless and to do what they do.  While it's true nobody can clean up their lives until they want to do it, that doesn't mean we should make it easy or less embarrassing.  Provide services, but expect something of value in return -- work at a shelter or food bank, clean up the trash around homeless camps, etc.  Living on the backs of working Americans should be discouraged.  instead, it's an accepted Liberal policy.

That's sad that an area that's should be more secure to to it being our capitol has this much crime.  And this was back in the 80's.  It's even worst today.  But then again, that's their plan, make crime go up, so they can buy property at lower rates and push more gun control due to criminals using them.