Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Special offer: Receive 8 issues for just £9.99!
SUBSCRIBE
Housing

Homeless camp cleared in Tokyo ahead of 2020 Olympics

Authorities make arrests in a Tokyo park as construction begins for the 2020 Olympic Games

At least three people were forcibly removed from a park in Tokyo where homeless people have been protesting against building work going on in preparation for the 2020 Olympics.

There are plans to build four new skyscrapers in the park in Shibuya, the megacity’s bustling shopping district. But the park has been occupied and used as a place to sleep by some of the city’s homeless population, leading to protests by the rough sleepers and sympathetic activists.

Construction workers and police officers began erecting fences in and around the park on Monday, leading to clashes when activists tried to resist the clearance of the area. One activist, Ogawa, said three people were arrested.

Almost a quarter of Tokyo’s estimated 6,235 homeless people live in the city’s parks

Kazuhiro Okuno, the head of urban development for Shibuya, last month told Reuters that public housing had been made available to people affected by building work.

Almost a quarter of Tokyo’s estimated 6,235 homeless people live in the parks of the metropolitan area, according to a recent Japanese government report. Some independent organisation said the government figures failed to consider those sleeping rough in the suburbs.

Protests against the clearance of homeless camps and low-income housing has marred preparation for successive international sports events.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

In 2010, The Big Issue reported on slum clearances in the centre of Indian capital Delhi ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Both London’s Olympics 2012 and the Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games saw resistance to the demolition of existing housing schemes for stadia and new homes.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Never miss an issue

Take advantage of our special New Year subscription offer. Subscribe from just £9.99 and never miss an issue.

Recommended for you

View all
Rough sleeping a 'source of national shame', government told
Big Issue founder Lord John Bird at a rough sleeping inquiry
Rough sleeping

Rough sleeping a 'source of national shame', government told

Most Brits don't realise you can be homeless without sleeping rough
homelessness
Homelessness

Most Brits don't realise you can be homeless without sleeping rough

More than 1.4 million homes with planning permission left unbuilt, report finds
houses in England
Housing

More than 1.4 million homes with planning permission left unbuilt, report finds

Where will the government build the 'next generation' of new towns?
Prime minister Keir Starmer in a hard hat on a building site
New towns

Where will the government build the 'next generation' of new towns?

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know