In Japan the homeless live in internet cafes
In that age-old contest, that heroic battle of champions to decide which country has the world’s premier internet cafés, none can truly compete with Japan and its facilities. In Nippon, the web-browsing establishments are composed of personal rooms, each furnished with a computer, a TV, and a reclining chair. Snacks are sold at the checkout counter, and no matter how shitty the place is, they always have a free-soft-drinks corner. That’s right—free soda! Some of them even have showers, and all of them have well-stocked manga libraries. Most are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if you get sleepy while you’re doing your important internet stuff, you simply push back your reclining chair until it becomes a sort of a bed and then drift away. Before you know it, hey, that legendary Land-of-the-Rising-Sun sun is actually rising (although you won’t be seeing it from the dim confines of your drywall and plaster cave). But whatever, because you just had comfortable lodging in mega-expensive Japan for the bargain price of ¥1,000 to ¥1,500 ($10 to $15) a night. Look at that price and then reflect upon the rapidly growing number of Japanese people out of work and without a home, and you can likely guess the result: Japan’s newest breed of homeless.
Japan’s New Breed of Web-Savvy Homeless by Tomokazu Kosuga in Vice.
Hotel rates in Japan are atrocious. Now you know where to check in.
In the 24-hour internet cafe near Ernie’s old apartment in Makati, the women chatting with their cyber-dates casually take off their tops and present the goods to the camera at two in the morning.
What we really need is a 24-hour self-service laundry and cafe.
March 4th, 2009 at 01:34
Looks familiar…reminds me of a good part of my pre-DSL life when I would sometimes stop by Studio 168 along Makati Ave in the wee hours of the AM just to witness the exotica getting wired….