Japan

DIVERSITY SOCCER ASSOCIATION

Originating as the street soccer programme by The Big Issue Japan Foundation, the Diversity Soccer Association was founded in 2017, and became a registered charity in 2020.

With a vision to realise a truly socially inclusive society where nobody is ever left out, Diversity Soccer Association tackles a range of issues concerning social exclusion in Japan through football.

A number of activities are included in their programming, including conducting surveys and research on social inclusion through sport, networking with overseas organisations, supporting regular practices of Nobushi Japan (their flagship ‘homeless’ soccer program) and other partners, and organising the Diversity Cup Tournament.

Tomoyuki Hoshino has come on as Diversity Soccer Association’s first ambassador. A renowned novelist, Tomoyuki Hoshino has been a supporter for many years, and his recent work features an inclusive football community, modelled after Nobushi Japan and other programmes of Diversity Soccer Association.

ORGANISATION DETAILS

PARTICIPANTS

Any vulnerable and socially excluded person of any age, who is experiencing difficulties concerning homelessness, social withdrawal, psychiatric disorder, disabilities, addiction.

LOCATIONS

Nobushi Japan's practices are held in Tokyo and Osaka, and there are partner organisations in Miyagi, Fukushima, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Okinawa.

Country statistics

24 out of 189 in Human Development Index rankings (UNDP, 2022)

Average annual salary per person $39,350 (World Bank, 2023)

Poverty was only formally recognised in japan in 2009.

Japan is a country made up of a series of islands in Eastern Asia. Japan has a country of 123.7 million, making it the 11th most populated country in the world. Capital city, Tokyo is the world’s largest city, with more than 37 million people living there (CIA World Factbook, 2024; Worldometer, 2024; BBC Science Focus, 2024).

According to the 2022 Basic Survey on National Living published by the Japanese Government, Japan’s poverty rate was 15.4%, the highest among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members at the time (Borgen Project, 2024).

Homelessness in Japan hit record low numbers in 2024, with the government recording the lowest levels since monitoring started in 2003, however campaigners say this does not show the whole picture as it only captures people who are living in shelters and who are sleeping rough, and does not highlight the hidden homelessness found in cities like Tokyo and Osaka (Japan Times, 2024; Japan Today, 2024).

Japan is regularly affected by natural disasters and is one of the countries at highest risk of earthquakes in the world. Between 2008-2023 4.7 million people were internally displaced by natural disasters, including storms, flooding and earthquakes (Internal Displacement, 2022).

In the Homeless World Cup’s How To End Homelessness podcast we spoke to Miku Sano from Big Issue Japan about the state of homelessness in the country.

We also reported on the impact of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the state of homelessness in the capital in the Beyond the Stadium series.