Net café refugees , also known as cyber-homeless , are a growing class of homeless people in Japan who do not own or rent a residence (thus having no permanent address) and sleep in 24-hour Internet cafés or comic cafés. Although such cafés originally provided only Internet services, some have expanded their services to include food, drink, and showers. They are often used by commuters who miss the last train; however, the net café refugee trend has seen large numbers of people use them as their homes.
First opened in 1995, the Internet cafés of Tokyo are no longer just rows of PC's and swivel chairs. They are pragmatic alternatives to renting an apartment. For ¥1,480 a night, or ¥420 per hour, you can have a private compartment complete with access to the Internet, games, DVDs, comics and an endless supply of soft drinks. You can even take a Shower before going to work, and laundry service is also supported.
A Japanese government study estimated that over 5,400 people take the net cafes as long term hotels. It has been alleged that this phenomenon is part of an increasing wealth gap in Japan, which has historically been a very economically equal society.
The Net café refugees are unemployed or underemployed and cannot afford to rent even the cheapest apartment, which is far more than the cost per month to rent an internet booth daily. The young people among those Net café refugees are known as the "lost generation" , a production of the Japanese economic downturn in 1990s. According to the Japanese government`s statistics, since the implementation of the reform of the enterprises , full-time jobs reduce by 4,000,000, at the same time, the temporary jobs increase by 4,300,000.
Actually, the current income level of the freelancers is actually as same as the government benefits for the unemployed、the disabled and the single mothers.
When sun rises up, they rush out of the tiny boxes to make a living. Tokyo city never tells fairy tales.
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via www.wikipedia.org
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