Tokyo  - Japan's Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal by a homeless man and ruled that he cannot register a public park as his address.

A homeless man who lives in a tent at a park in western Japanese city of Osaka had appealed the January 2007 ruling of Osaka High Court that rejected his claim to register a park as his home address.

The high court overturned the district court's decision and refused to recognize the park usable as a personal address "based upon sound social norms," Kyodo News Agency reports said.

Yuji Yamauchi, 58, has lived in the park since 1998 and tried to convince the local government that the city-managed space was his personal address. But the city refused to accept it.

The district court ruled in January 2006 that a residence should be determined as valid according to whether the person actually lives there, regardless of whether the person has rights to the piece of land. However, the high court overturned the ruling.

Yamauchi complained he faced difficulty without a permanent address to join the public health insurance system and exercise his voting right without a registered address.

It is not illegal for people to camp out in parks across Japan and they have become hubs for homeless people. (dpa)