Net café refugee

[6] A cultural anthropological perspective suggests that net cafe refugee is one of the phenomena that arose amid Japan's "Lost Decades" associated with the 1989 Bubble Burst and the 2011 Triple Disaster that left a long-lasting sense of "precarity.

"[7] Alongside other youth crises like freeter and irregular employment, net cafe refugee can be seen as exemplifying the collective insecurity and hopelessness shared among the contemporary Japanese society.

[9] Most net café refugees are urban working class, driven to an unstable form of residence by the high cost of living amid the long-term economic difficulties in Japan.

In addition to the night package and accommodations, this implies that the industry is expanding in accordance with the constant demand of net cafe refugees.

The fee of around ¥1400 to ¥2400 yen for a night – which may include free soft drinks, TV, comics and internet access – is less than for capsule hotels.

[15] To elaborate, the low income earned through their unstable freeter labor hinders them from settling in traditional forms of residence and drives them to net cafés, contrary to their initial purpose as temporary stations.