An interesting article written by Justin McCurry in The Guardian today called Tokyo dreaming. I was shocked by the estimated number of people regualrly sleeping in Japan’s 24-hour cafés — 25,000 to 40,000 is quite a depressing figure.
Expenses:
- Meal
- a plate of chips, sausages, a burger, fried fish, rice and shredded cabbage for 830 yen (£3.60); soft drinks are free of charge.
- Rent
- a cubicle (not much bigger than a toilet cubicle) with a reclining chair, a desk, a PC with Internet connection and a lamp for 1000 yen per night (£4.30)
Less than £8 for a night’s accommodation and dinner is obviously a bargain especially for an expensive city like Tokyo.
As I continued reading, I was surprised by the fact that many of the ‘café refugees’ are in their 50s and 60s, although a quarter of them are only in their 20s.
Living on 100,000 yen (£430) a month in Tokyo is tough but at least they don’t have to live on the filthy, dangerous streets like the homeless of London.
hey same case in hk.. they sleep at 24 Mc donald’s!