Japan's homeless 'net cafe refugees' seek shelter amid virus woe

"I thought of sleeping on a bench at a train station... or subway stairs going underground," said the grey-haired man, who declined to give his name.

Renting an apartment in Japan requires a very expensive deposit and presents tricky administrative hurdles, leaving net cafes a convenient option for many of the country's hidden poor.The temporary shelters at the judo hall in Yokohama, operated by the local Kanagawa authorities, have been designed by a team led by award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban to offer privacy and prevent infections.

The aim is to provide a safe place to those driven out by the coronavirus crisis, said Yuji Miyakoshi, an official at the municipal government. Mr Miyakoshi said the people in the shelter were"quite discreet and quiet... My feeling is that many of them are obviously not good at asserting themselves."On the surface, Japan appears a wealthy and prosperous society and visitors to Tokyo and other major cities are often struck by the relative lack of homeless people seen in other world capitals.

Coronavirus has driven these people into a corner, said Tsuyoshi Inaba, who has long been involved in helping homeless people. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which ordered establishments such as net cafes closed amid a spike of coronavirus cases in the capital, is trying to find a solution for the hundreds abruptly made homeless.

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