Picture Perfect Paranoia

Well, this is an interesting development.

Tokyo to help out ‘Net cafe refugees’ with interest-free loans

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to help out homeless “Net-cafe refugees” who spend their nights in Internet or comic-book cafes by providing them with interest-free loans to help them secure housing, officials said.

The metropolitan government is set to launch the loan system starting from fiscal 2008. It is the first move by a local government to help the so-called Net-cafe refugees.

A survey compiled by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in August 2007 found that there were an estimated 5,400 people across Japan who spent more than half the week staying in Internet cafes or similar facilities.

About 2,000 of this number were located within Tokyo’s 23 wards. When they were questioned why they couldn’t secure housing, 66 percent said they could not come up with the initial costs such as the deposit. Another 38 percent said they had no regular source of income to pay the rent, and 31 percent said they couldn’t find a guarantor.

Under the metropolitan government’s support policy, people expected to build stable lifestyles, such as those looking for regular employment, will be lent up to 600,000 yen free of interest to cover the cost of entering a rented apartment and initial living expenses.

Officials will also set up a consultation center, and enlist the help of social welfare corporations to help the Net-cafe refugees.

“There are many people in a vicious circle in which they can’t find regular employment because they don’t have housing,” a metropolitan government representative said. “If the problem is not addressed, the number of people who have no option but to live on the street will increase.”

Makoto Yuasa, executive director of the nonprofit “Moyai Support Center for Independent Life,” said support measures were needed.

“Practically speaking, it’s impossible for Net cafe refugees to save up money by themselves to rent an apartment, so support measures are needed. But the conditions attached to the money lending will determine whether it is actually a user-friendly system,” he said.

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