Social Ties and Survival in Japan's "Temples of Refuge": An Exploration of the Determinants of Homelessness among Yoseba Day Laborers in Tokyo.

This paper analyzes the determinants of homelessness among day laborers in San'ya, Tokyo's largest yoseba, or day labor ghetto. Yoseba have long served as kakikomidera, or "temples of refuge," for Japan's unemployed. However, under the Heisei Recession since 1990 demand for day laborers has dramatically declined and homelessness has exploded. While the link between the recession and rising homelessness among day laborers has been affirmed by social science researchers in Japan, this paper is the first research effort to empirically explore the factors that determine whether or not an individual day laborer becomes homeless. A binomial logistic regression analysis is performed on survey data from day laborers in San'ya, showing that, contrary to expectation, characteristics such as youth and possession of job-related skills were not found to significantly prevent homelessness. However, day laborers were able to draw on their formal education, past experiences as a day laborer, and interpersonal connections with labor brokers to avoid homelessness. These relationships with employers proved to have the largest impact, suggesting that this form of social capital is the most important asset in avoiding homelessness in Japan's yoseba. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]