Homeless

I have heard many stories about Japanese homeless, there is an urban legend that says that not very long time ago, Japan was a prospered nation where everybody belonged to a wealthy middle class. During the eighties, It was common to throw washing machines, computers, televisions and other brand new things, because japanese always wanted to have the newest model of every electronic devise. Apparently the nineties came and Japan suffered a big economical crisis, at that time, many wealthy employees,like bank officers or salarymen lost their jobs, and in a country like Japan, highly capitalist, and with little social protection, many of those people became homeless, some of those people still living in the street without a roof, making their homes using sheets of blue plastic and other materials found in the streets. legends apart, homeless here, are totally different from others that I have seen in other zones of the planet, probably because they belong to an unique economic and social reality which is Japan, they share common models of conducts, they never beg for example, and they are very tidy, neat and clean, trying to keep their staff organized and occupying the minimum space. I draw those two men in the middle of Tokyo, very near Shibuya station, they were sitting down on the entrance of a metro station, in front of them was a huge crowd of japanese people walking in lines like ants in both directions to take the subways or to go to the citycenter, It was december, and It was really cold at that time, I did the sketch in five minutes and I wanted to invite them for a warm can coffee, but they were kind of sleeping and never look at me, protecting from the coldness. Japan, Shibuya 15th of December, 2010