Hibiya Park
Public interest in the plight of the laid-off workers peaked around the end of 2008, when 500 unemployed and homeless temporary workers converged on a "New Year's "Haken" Tent Village" in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. Well-known lawyer and consumer advocate Kenji Utsunomiya was declared the "honorary mayor" of the village. According to the organizing committee, many of the workers were in poor physical condition, and eight were hospitalized with pneumonia.