The other city: alternative infrastructures of care for the underclass in Japan

Abstract

Paying attention to the history of urban governance in postwar Japan, this article discusses how decades of governmental neglect and social exclusion might give rise to alternative practices and technologies of care in marginalized enclaves. In Kotobuki, a former day laborers' district (yoseba) in Yokohama, the single-room occupancies known as doya have become care facilities for the impoverished elderly and people with disabilities, who are being embraced into a nexus of care sustained by local supporters. Two differently marginalized groups appear central to this process: local resident (zainichi) Koreans, and Japanese leftists. The case of Kotobuki exemplifies how the resilient search by these two groups for an alternative future has transformed an underclass enclave into a uniquely protective dwelling place for the marginalized.

Finding Security on Skid Row: The Positive Role of Organizational and Social Ties in Service Hubs in the United States and Japan

“…In contrast to rhetoric about skid rows as “jails without bars” and the need to avoid overconcentration of PSH, my findings show that ties to organizations, subsidization, and social ties in these neighborhoods bolster residents’ ontological security. Therefore, they can serve as “uniquely protective dwelling place(s) for the marginalized” (Kim 2018, 1). This provides support for expanded investment in housing and supportive services in service hubs.…”