Dignity for the down-at-heel

The Big Issue Japan, an Osaka-based biweekly magazine that gives homeless people a chance to work as vendors to support themselves, marks its 10th anniversary this month.

The magazine is sold on the street, rather than distributed to bookstores. The system is designed to provide the homeless with job opportunities and a source of income.

Since the magazine's launch, 1,474 homeless people have worked as vendors.

Of them, 163 have been hired as regular workers at companies and elsewhere. The system is establishing itself as a tool to lift people out of homelessness and enable them to support themselves.

On a pedestrian bridge in front of an Osaka train station in mid-August, Susumu Hamada, 62, was selling the latest issue of the magazine with a handmade signboard that read, “A magazine born in England and produced in Osaka, not available in book-stores.” Under the scorching sun, he sat up straight and offered a polite, “Thank you very much” to his customers.

Homeless people purchase copies of the magazine for 140 yen (Bt40) each, then sell it for 300 yen, keeping 160 yen per copy as profit. Hamada's daily income is about 3,000 yen. “It’s not much, but I can pay for meals with my own income, and on top of that, I get a sense of fulfilment,” he says.

Hamada became homeless in spring 2003. In 2000 he quit a job at a public library where he had been a temporary employee for more than 10 years to become a full-time employee at a confectionery company. However, he lost the job during a recession. He lived on the streets around Osaka Station and got by on welfare meals. Looking back on those days, he says it was hard, as he felt like he was living on charity.

That autumn, he learned about the launch of The Big Issue Japan and immediately became a vendor. Since then, he has been selling the magazine in front of the station on weekdays. “I like the magazine and it's fun talking with customers. Since I have regular customers, I can’t take days off," he says. His goal is to save up enough money to rent an apartment.

A 57-year-old man from Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, who now works as a security guard after two years as a vendor of the magazine, said, “If it weren’t for The Big Issue, I could never have escaped homelessness.” The man became homeless when all of his money was stolen after he moved to Osaka from Nagoya to find a construction job. Because he was unfamiliar with Osaka, he did not know where he could get welfare meals and alleviated his hunger by drinking tap water. Overwhelmed by his isolation, he once tried to commit suicide.

He heard about the magazine from other homeless people who saw he needed help. “I was really glad that I could take care of myself," he said. He said he will never forget the warmth from the cup of instant noodles that he bought with his first paycheque.

The job also brought him back into the folds of society. An employee at the Big Issue publisher told him where to find cheap accommodation, and introduced him to a recreational soccer club. The man found his present job through job training he had received thanks to the recommendation of a third party.

“I was able to get back on my feet because I no longer felt that I was alone. I was incredibly lucky to be in contact with people who supported me when I was down,” the man said.

Launched on September 11, 2003, The Big Issue Japan is published twice a month. Currently, 143 vendors work in Tokyo and 14 prefectures, mainly in Osaka and Tokyo. The circulation of each issue is about 30,000.

A total of 5.75 million copies had been sold as of April, and homeless people made a total of about 800 yen million working as vendors.