A Tokyo Metropolitan Government survey released last week shows that there are an estimated 4,000 “internet cafe refugees” who choose to spend their nights at such facilities because they don’t have a stable residence.
The survey, conducted from November 2016 to January 2017, targeted 502 internet and manga cafes in Tokyo that are open 24 hours a day and 946 of their customers. Valid answers were provided by 222 cafes.
Based on the results, released last Friday, the metropolitan government estimates about 15,000 people stay at such cafes daily during the week and some 4,000 of them are homeless. About 3,000 are said to not have stable jobs either, the estimate showed.