Homeless Sleep in Japan Internet Cafes
29 May 2007

TOKYO (AP) - It's almost midnight as Ryo settles into a reclining chair for the night, a can of tea and a pack of cigarettes at his side, a construction job awaiting him in the morning.

For the time being, this cramped cubicle at an Internet cafe -- with its TV and flickering PC monitor -- is home.

Ryo, who refused to give his full name, is part of what experts believe is a new social strata in Japan -- poor, young people who live out of cheap, 24-hour Internet cafes to escape the streets.

Though there are no reliable numbers, experts warn a growing number of younger Japanese are sleeping in cheap Net cafes like Ichigo, where Ryo, who is 30, spends five nights a week. He stays with a friend on weekends.

The rising number of people like Ryo, known as "Internet cafe refugees," has raised enough concern that the Health Ministry is preparing to study the 1,300 Internet cafes nationwide.

Last year, 13 people contracted tuberculosis at an Internet cafe just west of Tokyo that health officials suspect originated from the cafe's homeless population, said Tomohiro Uchino of the Health Ministry's social welfare department.

"The phenomenon raises many issues in terms of health, labor and welfare," said Uchino. "The problem is that we don't yet have an accurate picture of how many homeless people there are in Internet cafes, how they got there, or how the government can intervene," he said.

Behind the rise of Net refugees is Japan's ballooning population of young people who hop from one temporary job to the next.

They are believed to number more than 2 million -- a byproduct of the economic crisis that hit Japan a decade ago, as well as a shift in values among younger generations less ready to conform to the corporate work ethic of their parents and grandparents.

Ryo said part of the reason he ended up homeless was an expensive interest in reggae music. In his twenties, he staged reggae events with his friends and even took trips to Los Angeles to study with musicians there. But then his savings ran dry, he said.

In a city where a tiny studio apartment rarely costs less than $825 a month, the cafes appeal to people like Ryo because staying overnight costs only a fraction of that.

At Ichigo, clients pay 82 cents an hour for a small cubicle equipped with a reclining chair, computer and TV. Many cafes offer free refills of soft drinks; some even have showers. But it's hardly a comfortable environment: The air is stale with cigarette smoke and there is a constant whine of computers, TVs and ventilation fans.

The urban refugees are modern-day versions of the day laborers of Osaka and other big Japanese cities who fueled the tumultuous economic growth of the 1960s -- an underclass that lodged in cheap hostels and who were rounded up each morning to work at nearby construction sites.

Some inhabitants of Net cafes also find work by the day, albeit in a more technology-savvy form. Many rely on their cell phones to arrange casual jobs, according to Makoto Yuasa, who heads a homeless support center in Tokyo.

The arrangement means workers are not required to provide a set address, Yuasa said. However, the casual nature of the work means such workers often receive minimal wages and no training, social security or health insurance.

"With some job agencies, you get a call or an e-mail the night before, telling you where to turn up to work the next day," Yuasa said. "Many are menial cleaning or factory jobs that don't lead anywhere."

A government survey released earlier this year found about 18,500 homeless people across Japan, mostly aged 40 or older. That was down 27 percent from a similar survey four years ago. But the Net cafe refugees phenomenon signals the existence of hidden forms of homelessness in Japan, especially among younger people, Yuasa said.

The refuges sought out by homeless young people are not limited to Internet cafes. They also congregate in all-night saunas and the more traditional flop-houses, where the older homeless people able to afford any form of lodging are also more likely to be found.

Young people have even been spotted catching up on sleep at the country's 900 McDonald's restaurants open round-the-clock, according to local media reports. The media has dubbed them "McRefugees."

"We don't think this is a big problem at this point," said Kazuyuki Hagiwara, a spokesman at McDonald's Holdings Company Japan. "Our staff patrol stores at night and close off unneeded sections, and people who look like they are using our stores only to sleep are sometimes asked to leave."

Over 5,000 'net cafe refugees' stray Japan

TOKYO, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) - Japan estimated Tuesday that it has more than 5,000 "net cafe refugees," a new class of working poor who live in all-night lounges and are seen as a sign of a growing rich-poor gap.

Internet cafes and "manga" comic cafes are omnipresent in urban Japan, offering couches, computers, soft drinks and comic books to stressed businessmen or commuters who missed their trains home.

But a government survey found that an estimated 5,400 people have virtually moved in to the 24-hour cafes.

It said some 80 percent of Japan's "net cafe refugees" are men and that 52.7 percent said they decided to live in the lounges because they lost their jobs.

Another 13.8 percent said they moved into the net cafes because of deteriorating relationships with their families, according to the survey by the health and welfare ministry.

The average salary of the "refugees" was 113,000 yen (983 dollars) per month -- about equivalent to what a minimum-wage employee would earn in Tokyo if working 40 hours a week.

The health ministry launched the first-of-a-kind survey, which questioned operators and customers at 3,000 Internet cafes nationwide, amid growing national attention to the problem.

A five-hour stay at an Internet cafe in Tokyo costs about 3,000 yen with a meal served. Showers are available at 200 yen for 30 minutes and clean underwear is on sale.

The ministry said it planned to assist the "refugees," including by sending in counselors to help train them in how to get better jobs and manage their budgets for housing.

Japan has long been proud of its reputation as an equitable society but the social safety net has taken a beating since the world's second largest economy went into recession in the 1990s.

Liberal Democratic Party-led governments launched free-market reforms that they credit with restoring growth to the economy, which is in the midst of its longest expansion since World War II.

But Japan's opposition, which won a landmark election victory last month, has charged that the reforms have widened the gap between rich and poor and between urban areas and the countryside.

Interesting adaptation of homeless people. Do what you gotta do...too bad we don't have any internet cafes around here.

yeah well homeless people are everywhere you go no matter what city or country your at

better then sleeping in a cardboard box

sounds like something out of a William Gibson story!

well if i was homeless thats where i'd like to sleep

Go for Capsule hotels.

The treatment of homeless seems very different here than in Japan. Here they would be kicked out within 15 minutes.

Go for Capsule hotels.

but i can't surf SSC from a capsule hotel...

but i can't surf SSC from a capsule hotel...

You're right.

But the bed seems more comfortable (full-flat bed). I've seen a few of these on TV (on NHK to be precise) and they aren't so bad as I imagined. Sure there is no internet.....but at least you can sleep with a pillow. :lol:

I doubt the homeless can afford the capsule hotels if they're forced to stay in an internet cafe or on the street.

hkskyline

Do you misunderstand Japnaese net cafes?

I tnink you imagin it like this

It is not the Japanese one
http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/ttalk/856000/20070830118843583395402800.jpg


Japanese one is like this

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/ttalk/856000/20070830118843608622931800.jpg

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/ttalk/856000/20070830118843610125393600.jpg

free drink
free AV
free manga
free to take a shower
http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/ttalk/856000/20070830118843613745483600.jpg

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/ttalk/856000/20070830118843648692133600.jpg
there are shower rooms in net cafe
most of those are private room ...and some have a bed
and it costs 250yen/h

I want to also sleep there

Pretty smart if you ask me lol. Wish there was something like that here.

250 yen a night? Is that cheaper than a capsule hotel?

250 yen a night? Is that cheaper than a capsule hotel?

Yes it is

250 yen a night? Is that cheaper than a capsule hotel?

LOL, it's like 10 times cheaper.

free drink free AV free manga free to take a shower and there are shower rooms in net cafe most of those are private room ...and some have a bed and it costs 250yen/h.

now thats wat i call great accomadation! :cool: free AV movie..:lol:

250 yen a night? Is that cheaper than a capsule hotel?
250y/hour (maybe 1500 yens per night?). It's cheaper than other alternatives.. The capsule hotel is somewhere around 3000-4500 yens per night. Business hotel single rooms (toyoko-inn style) are 5000-7000 yens per night.

Pretty smart if you ask me lol. Wish there was something like that here.

Although I'm all-for dedicated governmental plans and long term strategies to aid the less fortunate people aka homeless people, i think this is a brilliant idea to keep them off the streets while offering them a safe & clean place to stay and use the net to even find work... :okay:

now thats wat i call great accomadation! :cool: free AV movie..:lol:

Exactly! lol

Seems like a good place to stay if you are a poor traveler ;)

Internet cafés
In bigger cities around the major stations you can find internet cafés. Here you not only can access internet but watch TV, play video games, read comics and enjoy the free drink bar. Price varies but usually around ¥400/hour. They often have a special night fare for the period when no trains are running (from around 12pm until 5 am for ¥1500). Sometimes they have massage chair, a mat to sleep on or even a shower.

It isn't an especially comfortable option, but it is perfect for checking the next day's train schedule, downloading pictures from your digital camera, writing home and resting a bit.

http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:mK4b9rbWfwYJ:wikitravel.org/en/Japan+internet+cafe+japan+visa+run&hl=ja&ct=clnk&cd=13

Internet cafés
In bigger cities around the major stations you can find internet cafés. Here you not only can access internet but watch TV, play video games, read comics and enjoy the free drink bar. Price varies but usually around ¥400/hour. They often have a special night fare for the period when no trains are running (from around 12pm until 5 am for ¥1500). Sometimes they have massage chair, a mat to sleep on or even a shower.

It isn't an especially comfortable option, but it is perfect for checking the next day's train schedule, downloading pictures from your digital camera, writing home and resting a bit.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan

Seems like a good place to stay if you are a poor traveler ;)

Dang...didn't think of it that way either. But it would suck to carry around your stuff all day until you're ready to go to one at night. Well...unless you packed realllll light haha.

Although I'm all-for dedicated governmental plans and long term strategies to aid the less fortunate people aka homeless people, i think this is a brilliant idea to keep them off the streets while offering them a safe & clean place to stay and use the net to even find work... :okay:

yeah! i agree with you... :banana:

Help offered to Japan's Internet cafe homeless

TOKYO, April 25, 2008 (AFP) - Japan on Friday opened a support centre for "Internet cafe refugees" to help the growing number of cash-strapped young people who virtually live in all-night Internet lounges.

Japan's economy has been recovering from recession in the 1990s, but critics say that many of the new jobs for young people are inadequate and are creating a new class of urban poverty.

The Japanese labour ministry last year estimated some 5,400 people, many young and working in temporary jobs, had virtually moved in to the all-night Internet and comic cafes found regularly in major cities like Tokyo.

In the first action to help them, the ministry and the Tokyo government set up a support centre called Tokyo Challenge Net in the bustling district of Shinjuku.

The centre will provide loans of up to 200,000 yen (1,900 dollars) for living expenses and 400,000 for rent while giving advice on how to save money and secure a place to live.

Those asking for help will also receive information on medical care and job seeking, the labour ministry said.

The centre has already received numerous inquiries with its advisors fully booked with appointments for the next three days, said Tokyo government welfare official Isao Matsumoto.

"Those who don't have stable living conditions also face difficulties in securing stable jobs," Matsumoto told AFP. "We want to give a second chance to as many people as possible."

The labour ministry's report on "Internet cafe refugees" shocked Japan, which has long prided itself on being a 100-percent middle-class nation with its cities mostly free of the slums seen in much of the world.

The governments of western Osaka and central Aichi prefectures plan to set up similar support centres next month.

250y/hour (maybe 1500 yens per night?). It's cheaper than other alternatives.. The capsule hotel is somewhere around 3000-4500 yens per night. Business hotel single rooms (toyoko-inn style) are 5000-7000 yens per night.

How about 'Garage homes' ?

How about 'Garage homes' ?

I guess you mean the homestay? In tokyo, I recall several at 2000-3000 yens per night. Some are as expensive or more expensive than the business hotels thus.

I read a similar article concerning this matter like two years ago, seems like its getting worse. But really that cafe doesn't seem bad at all.

Seems like a good place to stay if you are a poor traveler ;)

lol yea ... considering the high cost of living in Tokyo, i might opt staying in those cafes if i'm visiting Tokyo :p ..

lol yea ... considering the high cost of living in Tokyo, i might opt staying in those cafes if i'm visiting Tokyo :p ..


You better not.:)
Actually the booth you stay in is only separated by papar-thin partitions from other users.
You will hear the sounds of their typing, snoring, etc. and there is almost no privacy.
Although it is prohibited to talk on the phone or have sex in the booth, some do and you can't really sleep...
there is no lock on the door and the doors are either translucent or so short and only covering your head, and not covering your lower body to prevent sex.
So, anybody can see inside your booth and sneak into your booth and steal your belongings while you are asleep.

It might be an interesting experience to know how miserable lives they live,
but better keep your belongings in a coin locker at a railway station when staying there...(there is no locker or safety box at net cafes)

If you just wanna save accommodation costs, stay in Minami-Senju area,
there are many hotels around 3000 yen per night for a single room.
You will sleep better and meet many expats there.
http://www.juyoh.co.jp/

I think these are great options for one-time events like sleeping for a few hours before and idol handshake event or concert, but I've heard that it can be quite noisy since the "rooms" are basically open stalls and you can hear people walking around.

[Edit, Just read the post above, so it seems like there is truth to this story. I still think it's a great bargain though]

Just go to a cubicle hotel. You get your own coffin-shaped capsule with lockers for safekeeping valuables.

Hotel chains like Toyoko Inn offer decent and clean rooms for as little as 5,000 yen.

I think these are great options for one-time events like sleeping for a few hours before and idol handshake event or concert, but I've heard that it can be quite noisy since the "rooms" are basically open stalls and you can hear people walking around.

[Edit, Just read the post above, so it seems like there is truth to this story. I still think it's a great bargain though]
Yes, I think those net cafes are good for sleeping for a few hours.
I hear many businessmen also kill their time in net cafes while they are out of the office. Many net cafes have shower stalls and printers, so they can be used for business also(especially for sales people walking all the day outside the office). It is noisy but people will normally follow rules. The only problems are snoring and sex noises..that's what I felt and got offended while using net cafes near my home.
http://www.yuyu-kukan.jp/guide/images/ph_02.jpg

Just go to a cubicle hotel. You get your own coffin-shaped capsule with lockers for safekeeping valuables.
It's a good option for travellers too. You will still suffer snoring and walking sounds, because your door is only like a thin shutter and you can hear everything.. also inside is sometimes not clean. I have heard there were lice in some cubicles.

Hotel chains like Toyoko Inn offer decent and clean rooms for as little as 5,000 yen.
Yes, Toyoko Inn is one of the best budget hotels for travellers!! I like it.
They offer great value for money, with clean rooms, free in-room internet, and free breakfast.
Other reasonable hotel chains are, CHISUN Hotel, APA HOTEL. They are also around 5,000 yen and good.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/ (Toyoko Inn Official Website)
http://www.solarehotels.com/english/chisun/ (CHISUN Hotel Official Website)
http://www.apahotel.com/~language/en/index.html (APA Hotel Official Website)

Toyoko Inn looks great. There's many locations and best of all.. it seems like there is a private washroom in each room. Nice find!

^It is great indeed, I even signed up for Toyoko Inn's member card :D This year I stayed at Toyoko Inn hotels in Kobe and Sendai.

^^any pics from Sendai?

Be patient ;)

Do you guys purchase The Big Issue Japan?
http://www.k2.dion.ne.jp/~itaru/LOVELOG_IMG/BigIssue.JPG
The Big Issue Japan is a biweekly magazine sold by homeless people,
and the subscription of the magazine is to help those people in discreet way.

There's this game I play in the PS2 called Yakuza based on Japan's organized crime. The game highly covers the homeless.

http://www.joystiq.com/media/2006/06/yakuza_boxart.jpg

Do you guys purchase The Big Issue Japan?
http://www.k2.dion.ne.jp/~itaru/LOVELOG_IMG/BigIssue.JPG
The Big Issue Japan is a biweekly magazine sold by homeless people,
and the subscription of the magazine is to help those people in discreet way.

What are the articles' topics? Homeless issues?

What are the articles' topics? Homeless issues?
Yes, of course. (the magazine is published by an NPO.)
And environmental issues, cultural and entertainment topics,are also carried to attract readers.
Above all, every time, the magazine inteviews a showbiz person (Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie...) or a business leader. That's a high-quality article.

Job cuts swell ranks of homeless in Japan
16 February 2009

TOKYO (AP) - In corporate Japan, losing your job can mean losing your home as well.

As major companies cut their work forces in the economic downturn, many Japanese workers are finding themselves out on the street because they have to move out of company-run dormitories.

Sadanori Suzuki was one of them.

The 26-year-old lost his job at a car factory in December, and by mid-January he was kicked out of the dorm run by his employer. He moved from Internet cafes -- which often have private rooms and double as flop houses -- to "capsule" hotels, which are coffin-like individual compartments just for sleeping. But within two weeks he was nearly broke and out on the street.

He found his way to a Shinto shrine in Kawagoe, a Tokyo suburb, where he planned to take temporary refuge. But the worship hall was locked. Exasperated, Suzuki set fire to the shrine, then called police from a nearby pay phone and turned himself in. When he was arrested, last week, he had only 10 yen (11 cents).

In a country where lifetime employment has long been held up as an idealized standard, Japanese are finding out fast that the unemployment safety net for part-time, temporary or contract workers has become painfully obsolete.

"In Japan, people quite often become homeless as soon as they lose their jobs," said Makoto Yuasa, head of Independent Life Support Center, a grass-roots activist group. "There is no protection for people who are able to work but are out of jobs."

On Monday, the government reported that the Japanese economy shrank at its fastest rate in 35 years in the fourth quarter -- at an annual pace of 12.7 percent -- and shows no signs of reversing course anytime soon. It is more than triple the 3.8 percent annualized contraction in the U.S. in the same quarter.

According to the latest government estimates, released last month, some 125,000 part-time workers will lose their jobs by March. Labor officials cannot follow what happens to all those who lose their employment, but of the 45,800 who have been tracked, the government found 2,700 became homeless.

Private estimates go much higher -- to upward of 400,000 new jobless by the end of next month -- and say more than 30,000 of them will become homeless, nearly double the country's nationwide homelessness figure. By the official count, the number of homeless is 16,000 and has been slightly decreasing for several years.

"This is just the beginning," said Hitoshi Ichikawa, a ministry official in charge of labor policies. "There will be many more in coming weeks and months."

The wide use of temps in manufacturing was only legalized in 2004, allowing corporate giants such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. to rely on seasonal workers. Using temporary workers allows companies to adjust production to gyrating overseas demand through hiring agencies that often provide dormitories.

Nearly one-third of the Japanese work force is made up of temporary workers, including 3.8 million bottom-tier workers who are sent countrywide to provide labor on demand.

A key to Japan's fragile economic recovery has been the explosion in temporary employment agencies, brokers who allow corporations to take on labor without having to pay benefits -- and then unload workers at will. Another factor is "freeters" -- a growing segment of young people who choose to move from one part-time job to the next.

Independent union organizer Makoto Kawazoe said temporary workers are given low-paying, tough factory jobs, with an average basic monthly salary of about 150,000 yen ($1,650), barely enough to make ends meet. When they are laid off and evicted from employer-provided housing, they often have no savings. Three-quarters of Japan's temporary workers earn less than 2 million yen ($21,740) a year.

"They have no choice but rely on their job agencies to find another job that comes with a dormitory," Kawazoe said. "Once you get trapped in the cycle, it's very difficult to get out."

The job-with-a-room package allows job agencies to supply workers who can start the job right away, without wasting time finding a place to live, Kawazoe said. "It's a scheme to attract the poor to take the low-paying, hard labor and keep them in the system."

Japan's unemployment rate jumped in December to 4.4 percent, up 0.5 points from a month earlier. That means 2.7 million people are out of jobs, up 390,000 from the previous year. The number of people on government welfare has risen by more than 46,000 since last year. In Tokyo and major cities across the country, welfare rolls rose 35 percent in January alone.

On the streets, the statistics are becoming a visible reality.

The government-run Hello Work job agencies are packed with young jobseekers, many carrying duffel or shopping bags with their belongings. They apply for a one-time 100,000 yen ($1,090) allowance and low-rent housing, which opposition lawmakers and advocacy groups say is far too little.

In a parliamentary debate last week, Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano urged companies to do more to protect their workers.

"Major companies have a social responsibility to sustain their work force," he said. "They are useless if they ignore that responsibility."

But Prime Minister Taro Aso -- who has promised to create 1.6 million jobs over the next three years -- said the government has put in place programs such as housing loans and subsidies to companies to maintain their work forces.

"We have provided support for those who have lost both jobs and homes, and we'll continue to take appropriate steps," he told a parliamentary session Monday.

Even so, the situation has gotten so bad that some Tokyo neighborhood offices have set up temporary showers for those who need to clean up before resuming their job search.

Over the New Year holidays, a tent village set up by a group of labor union members in Tokyo's Hibiya Park was almost instantly filled, prompting the Labor Ministry to open a nearby public gymnasium to accommodate the overflow. Hundreds came from out of town when word got around. The government later made available vacant public housing for 4,000 people in several locations in Tokyo through a relief package of financial aid and rent.

Companies say they are also working to respond. Toyota has announced it will slash its temporary workers by 1,700 through March -- from 4,700 -- by not extending their contracts. But it has promised to shift some to full-time positions or transfer them to subsidiaries or affiliates.

"We are doing the best we can," a Toyota spokesman said on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the topic.

From December, Toyota has also started allowing temporary workers to stay at company-run dormitories for up to a month without charge.

Before that, a temp worker had only three days to pack up and leave.

Capturing the heart of Kabukicho
http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2009/07/07/capturing-the-heart-of-kabukicho/

The images, which were all shot within Kabukicho, just east of JR Shinjuku Station, are captivating. On the cover, she is seen sucking on the bottom of an ice cream cone, her grimy feet next to pair of far-too-large sandals. In an arcade, outfitted in a pink top, she kneels on a chair with her shoes clearly on the wrong feet while slipping coins into the Magical Poppins game. Many frames feature her father, idly looking on and smoking as his daughter cavorts with birds and other homeless throughout the plaza fronting the theater.

The text of the book features a narrative that summarizes Kwon’s six-month relationship with the girl. He describes her love of hamburgers and the extended absences of her father and mother, who is apparently engaged in some kind of employment.

From the age of three, home for Kokoro had been the street. The family moved from Saitama Prefecture, where she was born, to Shibuya, Ikebukuro, and eventually Kabukicho. This past spring she entered school after being relocated to a shelter by her mother. Her parents are separated and, as far as Kwon knows, still living a homeless existence.

Perhaps most odd is that the photos show Kokoro as being very comfortable, her ubiquitous smile revealing highly decayed teeth.

“Kokoro thinks that Kabukicho is her kitchen or a playground inside her house,” says Kwon, sporting a dark fleece jacket and black pants over his thin frame as he sucks on a cigarette. “Because she is a child and doesn’t know anything, she believes that living on the street is normal. She was four years old then. She didn’t know what Japan was, what the U.S. was, or what anything was.”

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kokoro11-150x150.jpg

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kokoro10-150x150.jpg

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http://www.tokyoreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kokoro3-300x200.jpg

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/kokoro2-300x200.jpg

dE3lDpJ8VfI

Welfare ministry to run pilot projects for homeless in FY 2010
Kyodo News

TOKYO, Aug. 26 -- The welfare ministry plans to run pilot programs in fiscal 2010 to secure housing for homeless people, including those who lost their jobs and live in unregistered care facilities or Internet cafes, officials of the ministry said Tuesday.

Necessary expenses will be stipulated in a budget estimate for the next fiscal year and the projects are expected to be carried out irrespective of a possible change of power following the general election on Sunday, according to the officials of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The Democratic Party of Japan, the leading opposition party which is widely forecasted to oust the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the election, has pledged to redress economic disparities in its election campaign.

According to the officials, free or cheap shelters for homeless people were founded in line with the welfare law but quite a number of the facilities appear not to have registered with the municipalities and are often criticized for running a ''poverty business,'' as trouble between the facilities and their users have been frequent.

For example, there were incidents in which facility employees withdrew welfare money from the bank accounts of homeless people using their bank books, which the facilities had effectively taken control of, to secure fees to live in the facilities.

Through one of the intended programs, which will be operated in 20 municipalities as many of them will be located to urban areas, the ministry will offer apartments for those who are staying in such unregistered facilities, as well as for welfare recipients who have nowhere to go after being discharged from hospitals.

Another program, to be run in about a dozen municipalities including major cities, will provide counseling and other support through the services of nonprofit organizations for ''net cafe refugees'' who stay overnight in Internet cafes and other types of all-night facilities, according to the officials.

The ministry also aims to study the origins of homelessness as a way of preventing people from losing their jobs and homes.

The ministry will seek expenses for housing allowances for these people in its budget request for next fiscal year following a fiscal 2009 supplementary budget.

Association won't let homeless call Net cafes home
8 March 2009
Daily Yomiuri

Japan Complex Cafe Association, whose members are mainly Internet cafe operators, likely will not allow homeless people who sleep at Net cafes to register the cafe as their residence, making it difficult for the "Net cafe refugees" to receive the flat-sum cash handout from the central government, it has been learned.

As most municipalities also are reluctant to let Net cafes be used for the purpose of resident registry, it appears that the majority of these Net cafe refugees will be unable to receive the cash handout. According to a survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, there were about 5,400 net cafe refugees nationwide as of 2007.

A total of 1,367 cafes run by 233 cafe operators have joined the association, based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, accounting for more than 60 percent of such cafes in the nation, according to a survey conducted last year by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

At a board meeting the association held at the end of February to discuss the cash benefit issue, all board members representing nine Net cafe operators made a unanimous decision not to let Net cafe refugees register members' cafes as their places of residence.