Documentary sheds light on those living their lives inside internet cafes. It started in the 1990s as video game cafes
became increasingly popular. Now internet cafe 'refugees' wash and sleep there in between work shifts.The
inhabitants usually work low paid jobs and try to save money on rent
An increasing
number of low income Japanese men and women are permanently living in tiny dark
cubicles at internet cafes where they play video games in their spare time
while saving on rent.
Known as
'internet cafe refugees', they spend every night washing, sleeping and eating
at the gaming centers in between what is usually low-paid and menial
employment, the People's Daily Online reported.
The worrying
trend has been featured in a short documentary by Japanese photojournalist
Shiho Fukada. Called Net Cafe Refugees, it reveals the lifestyle of people who
moved from spending most of their time to all of their time inside internet
cafes.
The trend
started in the 1990s with some young men spending a growing amount of their
time playing video games, and then graduating into low paid mindless jobs which
occupied the space in between going back to the cafe.
Eventually they
moved permanently into the 24-hour cafes, which have cubicles where the
computer user can fall asleep as well as bathrooms where they can freshen up
before heading off to work.
They live in a
world where they drift from one darkened cubicle to the next in between working
in jobs that keep them on the edge of society.
One such
refugee is 26-year-old Fumiya, works as a security guard on a construction site
in between spending the rest of his time at the internet cafe. He is spotted in
the documentary chain-smoking and using the computer.
He said: 'I
originally wanted an apartment of course but it was expensive here in the city,
so I decided to just live at the Internet cafe. 'I spent most of my time there
anyway hanging out, so it wasn't really much of a step to spend the rest of my
time there.
'I must admit
it is not that easy to sleep here, you never feel rested because there's always
noises and disturbances going on around but it's got great facilities. I had
hoped I'd be able to save some money but it doesn't really work out like that.
It's just getting me from one day to the next.'
Social worker
Makoto Kawazoe said internet cafe 'refugees' such as Fumiya started appearing
in the late 1990s but became a larger social issue in the 2000's.
'Currently in
Japan about 38 per cent of people are temporary workers, most temporary workers
have very short-term contracts and usually less than half of full-time
employees. This disparity leads directly to poverty. 'It's also hard to get
unemployment benefits in Japan. In our society once you lose your job, you
cannot easily survive.'
He added: 'So
people want to become full-time employees but once they gain full-time jobs
what's waiting for them is long hours and high stress work.'
Tadayuki Sakai
is one of those unable to cope with the stress of daily work and after one day
telling his boss he was too busy to go for a drink after work, ended up being
sidelined for a month. He said he was diagnosed as suffering from depression,
and eventually quit his job after being repeatedly being passed over for
promotion.
Ever since then
he has been living for four months in the internet cafe, and said he did not
regret giving up his credit card company job.
He said: 'I was
putting in between 120 and 200 hours of overtime a month. I had to manage
computer systems. I didn't even have time to go home, although now I don't have
a home. 'When I was there I used to sleep at the office so it's not much
different, (at the office) I couldn't tell if it was day or night either.'
Director Shiho
Fukada's short film is one part of a series of three films that expose the
darker side of Japan, which feature perspectives that defy the cheery,
cute-obsessed culture popularized in the media.
The other two
films, Overworked to Suicide (about overworked white collar workers) and
Dumping Ground (about the homeless elderly), are available to view online.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3021375/Japan-s-internet-caf-refugees-workers-forced-dark-tiny-cubicles-t-afford-pay-rent.html
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