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It is the latest fashion in Japan. On Twitter or YouTube there are countless videos ridiculing the homeless and making fun of them. A phenomenon that outrages the associations that help the poorest.
By Bruno Duval, Tokyo correspondent for RFI
In one of these videos, we see homeless people sleeping at night in a park who are suddenly awakened on purpose by pot concerts or loud songs. Close-ups of the frightened and bewildered faces of these poor people.
In another video, a young man offers to buy a homeless man food. They enter a supermarket, grab a small basket and browse the shelves. The hobo chooses what he wants: a sandwich, a package of cakes, instant noodles, etc. So the two men go to the store and buy food. The two men then head to the cash registers, but when it’s time to pay, the supposed benefactor runs away, leaving the bum completely bewildered, as he doesn’t have enough money to pay. Accomplices comedians film his reaction.
Variation: a homeless man is offered an o-nigiri, a small cooked rice bun. In return, however, he is asked to bow in thanks so loudly that it borders on ritual prostration. Of course, this is totally unjustified, since an o-nigiri only costs about a hundred yen, less than a euro. But the bum does it because he is hungry.
The cult of performance
All these videos are presented by their authors as “light-hearted jokes”, without much malice. And they are overwhelmingly successful in Japan; They are the videos with the most “likes” and the most shares of the moment, which outrages the associations that help the poorest.
These videos also reinforce his conviction that the homeless in Japan are especially discredited. There is a basic rule in the country by which everyone is asked to redouble their efforts, to give the best of themselves, to excel in any circumstance and whatever the cost. Here, giving up is not an option.
In short, they are reproached for transgressing this permanent requirement of excellence and performance. They are considered anti-social, and derogatory and even hateful comments are made about them on social media in Japan throughout the day. They are even made by very famous people, influencers, for example.
A climate of hatred towards the poorest
In August 2021, one of them, Daigo, who calls himself a “mentalist”, posted a video in which he protested that part of his tax money was used to help the poorest. For him, “the life of homeless people is less valuable than that of animals.” This caused quite a stir at the time, but his YouTube channel still has over 2 million subscribers.
For charities, videos mocking the homeless are just as cruel and dangerous as such statements, because they fuel a climate of hatred towards the poorest.
In Japan, it is not uncommon for homeless people to be victims of verbal and physical violence. In recent years, several have even died. They have been killed by people, especially young people, who found their presence unbearable and believed that they did not deserve to live.
