Japan's collective image of homelessness is a fairly bleak one: Men in unwashed clothing, faces devoid of expression, hauling armfuls of flattened cardboard that will be their resting place for the night; rows of depressingly permanent-looking blue tarp huts in parks and beneath bridges, tucked out of sight and out of mind.
The homeless men who gather around Sumiyoshi Park in Shinjuku on weekends, however, defy stereotypes. Clad in immaculate uniforms, the men laugh and shout as they run around the field, kicking a soccer ball about with the volunteers and staff of Big Issue Japan, a magazine that supports the homeless.
"It's tough," says Takayoshi Hirose, 44. "I used to do track and field, but it's been nearly 20 years since I've had to run this hard."
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