poverty Archives - Unseen Japan

A young girl holds up both hands to refuse a plate of pastries on a table.

“The Meal-Skipping Crowd”: Cute Japanese Gen Z Slang, or a Sign of Japan’s Poverty?

Are young people skipping meals because they don't want to eat? Or are they just too broke? The data paints a complex…

JR Osaka Station's illuminated modern exterior at dusk, with a curving elevated walkway and glass office towers behind.

Osaka Station’s “Exclusion Art”: Hostile Architecture Comes to Kansai

Why did 150 concrete blocks outside JR Osaka Station spark outrage? We explore the divide in Japan's "exclusion art" debate.

Split image: Yani Neko's cat-eared heroine smoking on a balcony, beside the makeshift family from the film Shoplifters.

The Yani Neko Mirror: Why Japan Won’t Look at Poverty

A new anime tells a complex story of addiction and discrimination. It also sheds a light on a problem many in Japan…