Some homeless people around JR Shinjuku Station run a thriving business selling discarded magazines at discount prices, but kiosks are complaining that their "illegal" rivals are damaging their sales.
Shinjuku is the nation's busiest railway station in terms of daily passengers -- about 3.2 million. It has also drawn media attention because outside its west exit, hundreds of homeless people live in a squatters' community of cardboard dwellings.
When passengers discard weekly comic and newsmagazines in trash bins at the station during the morning rush hour, the homeless quickly pick them up. Then they open makeshift market stalls in and around the station concourse, and sell the magazines at less than half the regular price. Commuters can buy the used magazines for 100 yen each. The homeless people say they do it to earn their daily livelihood. But one such vendor reportedly makes as much as 4 million yen a month.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.