Streetwinter

Kotobuki is a centre for casual employment and cheap lodging in Yokohama, Japan, which is vulnerable to trade cycles, and where inhabitants have a higher death rate than in other parts of Japan. Work is found through official labor exchanges or through the yakuza, gangsters, who weed out unemployables for companies. The Kotobuki inhabitants are like shock absorbers who help others in the economy enjoy stable jobs. Local govt provides food and accomodation vouchers for casual workers who cannot find work. Casual workers and the self employed account for some 20% of the Japanese work force.