Precarious plight of the ‘invisibles’

Hunger pangs: Homeless men receiving bags containing bread from a charitable group. — Reuters

IT is well after dark in downtown Tokyo and away from the bright lights of the humming shopping and restaurant districts, the invisible people are shuffling in a line.

Almost all are men. Most are former construction workers; years ago they helped build this city – in whose parks and doorways they sleep now in cardboard boxes.