Haken Muira

The Global Economic Crisis in 2008 severly added to the unemployment and homelessness problem in Japan that has been growing since the "Bubble Burst" at the beginning of the 1990s. Seeing Government incompetance and a general uncaring attitude to those that drop down through the cracks of society Makoto Yuasa created the Moyai Foundation to provide assistance to those that found themselves out of work and facing poverty.
The most spectacular action undertaken by this organisation was the Haken Muira or Tent Village that took place in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo for 6 days over the New Year`s holiday in 2009. About 1,600 volunteers helped over 500 of Japan`s homeless and out of work with food, shelter and advice on finding work, accomodation and medical advice. People even offered free haircuts and the volunteers who came from all walks of life, also provided a welcoming and unjudgmental ear for the men and women that are usually ignored by majority of Japan`s society.
The protest camp ended with a demonstration outside the nearby parliament calling on the rulling Liberal democratic Party (LDP) to do something about the poverty issue in Japan and the effect and publicity of this event my even have helped bring about the defeat of the LDP in the subsequent election in August 2009.

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