Net cafe refugee free at last

Zoom Up By Jun Yasukawa Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer

Although hard-working, some young people are so impoverished they spend their nights, or days, at Internet cafes as an alternative to sleeping in the street, a social problem that is becoming more prevalent these days.

One 24-year-old man, who considers himself a refugee, decided in July that enough was enough. For more than two years he has been without a fixed address, staying instead in a room equivalent to only one tatami in size--about 1.6 square meters--at a 24-hour Internet cafe. Only thin boards separated his cubicle from the next.

After being forced to vacate his apartment because he could afford the monthly \50,000 rent, he searched in vain for another apartment. Eventually he had no recourse but to stay at the Net cafe.

The man studied at a vocational school after coming to Tokyo, with dreams of joining a video-related company. He graduated from the school in 2003 and started working at a small production company as an assistant. Despite working hard every day, returning home by the last train, his monthly pay after tax was only \130,000.

He looked unsuccessfully for a better job, and to make matters worse, he finally lost the job he had. By that time, he has already been kicked out of his apartment and taken up residence at the Net cafe.

Without a fixed address, the man was in a particularly vulnerable position as far as job-hunting went. He finally found a part-time job sorting products, working at night and being paid on a daily basis.

The harsh, unsettled conditions caused him both mental and physical anguish. "During that time, my mind was occupied with figuring out how to make it through every day. I couldn't go to the hospital when I got sick because I didn't have health insurance," he said.

Eventually, the man found a video production-related job in his hometown.

The man described his daily life in Tokyo as horrible. "I stayed at the cafe because I could spend a night for just \1,000. But I always felt like I was just one step away from living on the street," he said. "I would never go back to those days. There is nothing more important than living a healthy life."

The trade union Shutoken Seinen Union and other organizations conducted a survey in spring, interviewing customers at Internet cafes in 19 prefectures. According to the survey, 65 out of the 94 cafes surveyed had customers who stayed in the cafes for long periods every day.

Independent Life Support Center Moyai, a nonprofit organization in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, helps those experiencing harsh daily lives.

"Many people can't escape once they have fallen onto such hard times. Society and the government must increase their awareness of the problem and enhance the quality of social aid, as well as provide these people with fixed dwellings," the NPO's director, Makoto Yuasa, said.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to conduct a survey of current living conditions of people staying at Internet cafes shortly.