The first enterprise of the handyman business was to settle the problem of a rented apartment on 30 July 2003. Three main forces acted together. Firstly, the persons concerned. The work of dividing meticulously the old clothing for selling is different from moving a house and settling everything by handyman business, such work is done by the persons concerned. People like myself, failed intellectuals, unaccustomed to labor, learn many things from persons concerned when we work together with them. Such is the case, in packing and shipping loading, in using tools, handling and transporting heavy things. This is also true when having a break or taking a rest. The second strength comes from the supporters. The total work is not finished at the site of work. The same that the production of goods does not stop at the production line, but rolls through the sales and the purchasing of stocks till the goods are sold, handyman business goes through the business process of taking orders by phone, making cost estimates, sending salesmen, preparing the cars and doing publicity, giving the keys of the apartments and doing office work of writing bills and receipts, so that by filling all various business steps the work is finally completed. In fact, those concerned lack experience in office work and find it difficult. Although I do not have much experience either, at present I can make estimates and because of that I can give proper information to others. Thirdly, we lean on the strength of the collaborators. Due to the orders done by people, handy business can begin functioning. Minor movements like the ones of homeless people lack money, techniques and power and by making the best use of manpower, their only strength, they create jobs. At the beginning, incredulously, people say, "let's try," and we have found that persons that provide work are the source of support for the handy business.

At the start, we fixed the goal: "a monthly allowance of 80,000 Yen to all those who commit themselves for a year" and partly making fun of the business, customers as well as orders continue growing in such a way that labor days and sales increase, with the result that, counting the recycling business, the monthly sales have reached 2 million yen. This allows sharing 80,000 Yen among all 9 staff and the 2 full-time supporters plus other part-timers like myself. Based on the experience and managerial skills acquired we are moving to the next step of how can we together create more possibilities of work so that we can build a fit environment for many more homeless people to have a job.

I talked of "results," meaning basically the liberation from a probable dilemma that arises from a limited space and Micro Cosmos, and it could be also called equality. The members of AWN, all together, are 16 people. Besides them, there are others living near AWN who live by the Sumida River, about 1,000 in all, from where most staff members come. Homeless in Tokyo number around 6,000. Although AWN might raise the income of its members and accumulate their skills and know how it will not affect the homeless in general. AWN has solved for itself the dilemma between "living" and "action," but that is not the case with all the other homeless. At AWN everybody is equal concerning jobs, but inequality is common among all homeless people. We say working together, but the expression of "togetherness" is greatly limited to just a few persons. Maybe we should better refer to try to bring together all those homeless persons living nearby and to think of levels basically different from such activities. AWN is trying different ways to enlarge membership, but, after all, it comes to just about 20 more persons, what means that the majority of homeless people will remain outside, without any especial contact as before.

I, personally, feel that, at least at this moment, this should be enough and consequently my task now is to make that a reality.

I recall that during the 80's, one of the keywords in use among citizens' movements was, "global and local" and recently I think that "space building" is a good slogan. Homeless people are a result of social structures and their increase is a terrible phenomenon nowadays. Practically nobody is astonished today at the rapid increase of unstable workers as a result of the dispatch of personnel from one company to other. Young people evicted from their apartments, are dispatched to several companies where they are registered but they sleep in coffee shops reading comics, always holding back at a borderline, in danger of being thrown into the streets. Middle age persons, still healthy, whose tasks have been changed or that were forced to give up their jobs, are working part time at night in First Food or Convenient shops. American intellectuals call this trend, "low level competition" and it is a sign, not only of economic poverty, but also of a difficult social insecurity. This is how society is reflected into my eyes.

Faced with this reality, I ask myself what could I do and, for the time being, I thought what about building up a fortress. Space building might be a better expression. Instead of holding on to jobs with daily or monthly payment that very easily on the spur of the moment might cease, we must accept ourselves and continue building with our own hands 'space' to work together. We can build gathering places, like coffee shops or bars where any time we happen to go we could meet with some acquaintances, no matter who are they. Or maybe living spaces with good neighbor links where we are not in danger of being soon evicted. We must build with our own hands spaces from where the evil forces of society will not swept us away. No matter how small those places would be, provided that they are basically common, let's build them rapidly following our interests and talents. It doesn't matter they are only 4 or 5. But, it is important that they cover all work and living within a network system. This is my dream.

The work of AWN is small. It is nothing more than a small-size enterprise. It could not become big, neither it could be a small business that wants to win in competitive society but without being able to do so. I want it to be a spot not to be defeated. I feel lately that alternatives and not to be defeated bear such a meaning.

AWN has plans to buy land and a building in order to proceed on to next steps. A 4-story ferroconcrete building, with the attached 208 m2 piece of land that is in front of the actual shop we are renting now, could become the site of common work so that we could ourselves together support our own living. Our plan is to make it the center to meet each other, the center of our lives.