‘I hope one more flower will bloom in my life’: retelling the stories of being homeless in Japan through narrative inquiry

ABSTRACT

Once becoming homeless, people confront various challenges. Despite hardships in their lives, the voices of people who are homeless are often silenced in society and the multiplicity of their experiences are undermined. To recognize the impact of homelessness from their understandings of life, the study reports in-depth conversations with people who are homeless in Japan. Through the qualitative research methodology of narrative inquiry, I engaged in a close relationship with three men who are/were homeless and inquired into their experiences of being homeless. From our conversations, four narrative threads emerged; (1) living with memories of loss, (2) feeling of being without control, (3) feeling discouraged from weaving forward-looking stories, and (4) nourishing generosity amidst unexpected life circumstances. Considering these narrative threads, we highlight the diversity in the experiences of becoming/being homeless in Japan embodied by the stories of three men. We put forward recommendations for future practice and knowledge development to support people who are homeless.

KEYWORDS:

• Homeless men
• homelessness
• Japan
• narrative inquiry
• experience
• social justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Hiroko Kubota is Post-doctoral fellow at the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on lived experiences of people who are marginalized and made silent in society and on philosophical, theoretical considerations of human life and the world. Her doctoral research was on understanding experiences of people who are homeless in Japan through using narrative inquiry.

D. Jean Clandinin is Professor emeriti and founding director of the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development at the University of Alberta. She is the author of many books and articles about teacher knowledge, narrative inquiry, and curriculum studies. Her recent studies are narrative inquiries into the experiences of youth who leave school early, early career teacher attrition, the experiences of youth and families of Aboriginal heritage, the experiences of refugee families with preschool children, and the experiences of the professional learning of school administrators.

Vera Caine is Professor and CIHR New Investigator at the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. Her community-based research focuses on the relationship between the social determinants of health and people living with HIV, Indigenous youth, refugee families, and people who are precariously housed. Vera is interested in the relational and ethical aspects of narrative inquiry, as well as community based and participatory research methods and methodologies.