Changing Representations of Homelessness in Japanese Newspapers

Abstract

This paper examines how representations of homelessness in coverage by the Japanese media changed from 1991 to 2006 through changes in framing in Japanese news media coverage of homelessness. Coverage of homelessness in the Japanese and English-language newspapers, published by the Yomiuri and the Asahi media groups, provides a picture of the perception of homeless Japanese. This paper presents results from an examination of four newspapers: sampled articles from the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun from 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006, and a census of articles from the Daily Yomiuri and English edition of Asahi Shimbun. Results indicate that coverage increased as the economy stagnated. As article frequency increased, the issue was framed with more descriptive language, leading to a perceived increase in the intensity of the articles’ discussions. Though this was observed in all the publications, article descriptiveness and intensity varied between groups and languages.