ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book features critical accounts of lived experiences and state responses to homelessness in selected countries in the Asia Pacific. The International Federation of Social Workers (2014) defines social work as 'a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people'. The book focuses on homelessness in Japan, and geographers Johannes Kiener and Toshio Mizuuchi highlights residual welfare policy and connections between changes to the 'day labor' market and homelessness. It covers the lived experiences of older people, young people, people with disabilities, families, women and children, and the rural to urban population drifters, the so-called 'floating population'. The book provides a historical account of state responses to homelessness, the development of homelessness assistance services and housing policies in the urban context.