I've tried to administer CPR a couple of times, but the Japanese going from point A to point B, (as polite as they are normally), just shrug and move on...
I've lived in tokyo a year now and SF 2.5 years and I don't regret my move at all.
The guys lying in the street like that (even if not homeless) is actually culturally accepted. You see people sleeping in all sorts of places in Tokyo.
I won't comment on whether that's "good" or "bad" but it's definitely different than the US. I still heavily prefer Tokyo despite that (I don't see it that often in practice)
The worst areas are by far Roppongi and Shibuya. Admittedly, I don't go to Shinjuku as much.
It isn’t. It, however, is precisely what the blog talks about: newcomers explaining things away as “cute cultural quirks”.
Let me correct myself a bit. I guess what I should have said was public places? For example cafes or mcdonalds you can find tons of people sleeping in there, another example is train stations.
Obviously yes these are very different things, hence my correction.
But, you know, it's still warm! And people go there. And they are kicked by some of the teenage thugs at night and rousted and moved by the police. And are often found dead by the phone banks (all of two last time I was there) closer to the hotel, above ground).
I've never lived in SF. And I was friends with a couple of structural-choice-homeless guys in Japan. But - still - having to step-over or recusitate dead people every morning seems grubby to me.
EDIT: I said "the station". I meant Shinjuku. I actually lived out past Wako, and commuted to north of Shinagawa by a bus I picked up in Shibuya every day. There is no "the station", so I apologize.
I imagine this is more of an urban vs. rural issue than anything specifically Japanese.
But, that said, I do remember having to get a dead guy out of the way to be able to use the pay phone in west Shinjuku. (Lest you think I am heartless, my first call was to the 911 equivalent).