Homelessness has been recognized as a serious problem in Japan since the 1990s, but the dominant model of a "homeless person" has been that of an unemployed male laborer - a model that has largely excluded women, who experience homelessness in different forms. This study gives the homeless women of Japan a voice at last. Based on extensive fieldwork, the author paints a vivid picture of the unique experiences of homeless women living in a diverse range of environments. By introducing a gender perspective to the analytic framework and challenging the conception of the homeless individual as a rational, autonomous subject, the author invites a critical reconsideration of homeless studies and of public policy.

About Editors and Authors

MARUYAMA Satomi is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Letters of Kyoto University. Her research interests include poverty research, gender theory and welfare sociology. Her research is based on fieldwork conducted with homeless females to analyze the relationship between poverty and gender.

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