Haginochaya Minami Park - The heart of the homeless district of Osaka

 


I found a hotel in Osaka that was quite cheap, only realising later this area has a bad reputation. Wikipedia says "Nishinari has a historical reputation for being "sketchy and dangerous", but it is currently undergoing gentrification. Two designated yakuza groups, the Sakaume-gumi and the Azuma-gumi, are based in Nishinari." My friend, Hemid, who used to live in Osaka, also told me that there are many homeless in this area. As far as I'm concerned, this makes this hotel location even better - I'm interested to see a side of Japan that most tourists don't see. And I was sure it cannot be that bad, after all it is Japan, not the Americas or Sub-Saharan Africa. As I approached the hotel, I got a feel that is quite different from the rest of Japan I've seen. There were many visibly poor and mentally ill people, and everyone smoked openly which is quite strange in Japan. The hotel is "men only", I assume because it is also next to the red-light district and they don't want to turn it into a brothel. I got a simple room but with an ashtray in it, so I thought all was good. Then I went for a walk and discovered Haginochaya Minami Park (Haginochaya South Park). People were sitting on the street outside the park around fires, many quite interesting characters. In the park itself there was an event organised by an NGO, with music, fires, Palestinian flags, and free meal at the end. I've bought 2 six-packs of beer and went to make friends. And indeed, the homeless of Japan are just as polite and friendly as the rest of the population. I was told twice by the organisers not to make photos , but I still managed to get some pictures and a few videos. As far as I'm concerned this is public space and I don't mean to dehumanise the people, quite the contrary. A crazy old yakuza man put up a show, undressing and being taken away by the organisers. He was let back later after he put on his clothes again, but he continued his antics. At the end he was distributing candies, I also received one. I also met a nice American man, Tom, who's been living in Japan for 15 years with his Japanese wife. After the party and food distribution was over, I went to the nearby red-light district which was quite bizarre, with an old madame and a young girl sitting in an arranged pose and waving frantically in each door. I couldn't make any pictures of this scene, it's even more inadvisable than making photos of homeless. I went back to the park and bought more beers which I drank with some homeless and punks. I ended up quite drunk, but at least I got a free dinner. Today is New Year's Eve, but I don't feel like partying that much - but see how it goes.




































































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