Homeless in Tokyo

A small group of charitable women rise early every day of the week to assemble rice balls for Tokyo's homeless population.  Since Japan's economic downturn, the number of homeless has increased for young and old alike.   One park has a particularly large number of vagrants and on nice days visitors can see clotheslines with freshly-laundered articles hung out to dry.  As I walk by, I see men chatting, strumming instruments, and taking naps.  Transients typically occupy the same space every day.  And since green space is hard to come by in Tokyo, they must go at a premium rate.

This dedicated bunch of ladies invited me to join them in their good work; no prior rice-ball-making skilled required, they said.  The idea rolled around my head like a sticky rice ball as I explored yet another Tokyo neighborhood.  (How ironic if I help the destitute overseas and pretty much ignore them in my own city.  Is this the best use of my time in Tokyo?  What can I learn from this experience?  How essential is my help anyway?)   As I walked toward home, I decided to take a brief rest at a bench and think it over.  Most of the bench was covered with a pile of rubbish so I perched on the edge and watched chatty school kids who occupied the other benches  around.  

Presently, an older man approached and looked disapprovingly at me and at the trash.  I wasn't sure if he was more upset by the American or the rubbish.  The poor fellow appeared quite disheveled and carried two well-worn bags which he deposited at my feet.  After some time he took out a plastic bag and began to remove the rubbish with great care, making certain that not even the tiniest speck remained.  Having cleared the bench, he sat down, pulled out a sandwich and munched away.  I could see his reflection in a large-paned window across the way but not until I heard a whirring sound did I look directly at him.   Here was a homeless fellow with an electric razor!!  In the same way that he meticulously cleaned his bench, he shaved his stubble.  Not a whisker remained.  But my question remains:  Shall I serve the homeless in Japan??