This group feeds the homeless in Tokyo – here's how you can help

Grama Seva Japan was founded in May 2020 by chemical engineer and former Tokyo resident Siva Kannan, who wanted to make a positive change after encountering Yoyogi Park's homeless. The group's name means 'village service' in Sanskrit, inspired by Kannan's Buddhist beliefs.

The group is currently run by Iain and Veronica Lonsdale (pictured above), who took over after Siva's departure.

Iain and Veronica hail from England and Chile, respectively, though both have called Tokyo home for decades. Veronica runs a beauty salon and works in real estate, and Iain is a teacher and artist, but humanitarian efforts play a major role in their lives.

Veronica's fervour to help the less fortunate stems in part from her experiences as a young girl in Chile during the presidency of Salvador Allende. She recounts her own experiences of food scarcity and queueing at 4am for bread; she doesn't want anyone to have to worry about food like she did. 'I'm not gonna stand for any kind of injustice whatsoever,' she asserts.

Iain agrees, recalling the couple's 10-month stint distributing truckloads of aid in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. 'If you can't help, you don't have to,' he says matter-of-factly. 'But if you can… why not?' Their determination has helped fuel Grama Seva Japan’s success.

Grama Seva Japan now feeds around 80 people in Yoyogi Park every Sunday morning without fail, rain or shine. Veronica works tirelessly to collect dried food and other goods from various food banks and sponsors every week, while Iain helps prepare the bentos, made courtesy of the kind staff at nearby Indian restaurant Bharati. Together alongside a handful of volunteers, they have given out thousands of meals to date.

The individuals who line up for Grama Seva Japan's meals vary widely in age from twentysomethings to the elderly, though Iain and Veronica speculate that they may not necessarily all be unhoused. After all, it's difficult to assess someone's housing situation from looks alone, as issues like homelessness and food insecurity don’t discriminate.

In January 2025, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported 2,591 unhoused persons nationwide, approximately 80 percent of whom are scattered throughout Tokyo's 23 wards. With such a relatively low number vis-à-vis the rest of the population, Japan officially boasts the lowest rate of homelessness in the world. However, the reality may be more complex.

The ministry defines homelessness in Japan as 'persons who use urban parks, rivers, roads, station buildings or other facilities as their place of residence and conduct their daily lives'.

In other words, the government's numbers don't include those living in internet cafés, capsule hotels or other forms of unstable housing. If such people were accounted for, the rate of unhoused would likely rise significantly.

Regardless of how many homeless people there really are in Tokyo, Iain and Veronica are doing what they can to help. One of their future goals is to expand and target other areas, like Shinjuku, where they allege to have seen hundreds in need of assistance over the years. For now, they're trying their best in Yoyogi Park, but they desperately need goods like rice, which is a constant struggle to secure lately.

The two are in the middle of applying for NPO status, as being registered as an official non-profit would help Grama Seva Japan to garner more resources and more easily accept donations, but it's a lengthy and expensive process. In the meantime, the team is always on the lookout for more sponsors for food and clothing, and more volunteers to help pass them out. That's where you come in.

If you'd like to volunteer, you can sign up on the Grama Seva Japan website here. You'll receive a message with the Yoyogi Park meeting point, where you'll meet with the rest of the group on a Sunday of your choosing around 10.45am to prepare to hand out food promptly at 11am – the entire process takes scarcely an hour.

If you prefer to help from the comfort of home, you can order from the group's Amazon wishlist. The list contains items like bags of rice, canned goods and other essentials, which will be shipped to Veronica's salon in Jingumae – find the wishlist here.

Homelessness and food insecurity may seem like insurmountable issues, but the folks at Grama Seva Japan are determined to fight back. With your help, the battle might get just a little bit easier. In the words of Iain: 'Why not?'