OSAKA (Kyodo) The Osaka High Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling and told a man he could not use a city park as his address.
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| Yuji Yamauchi, a homeless man who lives in Ogimachi Park in Osaka, faces reporters Tuesday after the Osaka High Court ruled he can't use the park as his official address. KYODO PHOTO |
Presiding Judge Sota Tanaka said Yuji Yamauchi, 56, could not register Ogimachi Park in Kita Ward as his place of residence, as the tent he is living in there "is easily removable" and "not permitted under the City Park Law."
Tanaka said the court did not recognize the park as a person's address, "based on healthy social norms."
Yamauchi has lived in a tent in the park since around 1998 and receives his mail there.
Kita Ward refused in March 2004 to register the park as his address. He filed a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court demanding the ward be required to register him at that address.
The district court backed his claim last January, ruling a person's residence is the place where that person lives, regardless of whether one has the right to live at the location.
City Hall appealed, arguing that a tent is not a permanent structure and that recognizing the park as a legitimate address would cause an increase in the number of people living there illegally.
Yamauchi told the high court that without an officially recognized address, he cannot vote or get national health insurance.
His lawyer said they will file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
Toshio Mizouchi, a geography professor specializing in urban studies at Osaka City University, said he was disappointed the court only focused on the issue of whether homeless people can live in public parks and did not address the problems they have accessing public services without an official address.