Until a few years ago, the idea of people sleeping on the streets of Japan was alien, but with recession came homelessness.
And where there's homelessness, sales of the Big Issue magazine now a common feature on streets in Britain, has followed, giving some hope to thousands who live on the streets.
The publishers of the Big Issue Japan hope the magazine will repeat the success its UK counterpart has enjoyed since its launch by John Bird, the editor-in-chief, in London in 1991.
The health and welfare ministry estimates that Japan's homeless population is around 25,000, far lower than in Britain or the US, but big enough to cause alarm in a country that, until the recession began 13 years ago, could not imagine people sleeping on the streets.
Japan's second-largest city, Osaka, has been chosen as the first place where the monthly magazine will be sold. More than 7,000 homeless people live in the port city where the reliance on textiles and steel has seen its economy hit harder than other cities.
If it reaches its sales target of around 50,000 copies a month in Osaka, the magazine will be launched in Tokyo, according to its deputy editor, Miku Sano.
The Big Issue in Japan sells for ?200 a copy (US$1.70), of which the vendor keeps ?110. But the Japanese are reticent about buying from street vendors.
"Lots of people turn their heads and rush past, but others do stop to talk and buy a magazine, especially older people," said one 58-year-old vendor, who has been sleeping in an office doorway since becoming homeless a month ago.
"I used to collect aluminum cans and sell them to recycling firms for a few hundred yen a day, so this is definitely better. I'm not sure if I'd make a living out of it, but I'll give it a try."
He was encouraged by the magazine's success in Britain, where it has challenged misperceptions about the homeless, not least their supposed reluctance to work. Around 80 percent of Japan's homeless have jobs.
Initial interest in the first edition of the magazine and its novel philosophy was reasonably high. On the third day after the publication's launch, the 15 or so sellers in Osaka had each sold about 30 copies.
Bird, who was in Osaka last week, said: "When we started in 1991, we had a very hostile situation for homeless people in London.
"You can actually talk to homeless people, they are not lazy. They are just people who, like the rest of us, are having a hard time," he said.
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