The inhabitants usually work low paid jobs and try to save money on rent

Now internet cafe 'refugees' wash and sleep there in between work shifts

It started in the 1990s as video game cafes became

An increasing number of low income Japanese men and women are permanently living in tiny dark cubicles at internet cafes where they play video games in their spare time while saving on rent.

Known as 'internet cafe refugees', they spend every night washing, sleeping and eating at the gaming centres in between what is usually low-paid and menial employment, the People's Daily Online reported.

The worrying trend has been featured in a short documentary by Japanese photojournalist Shiho Fukada. Called Net Cafe Refugees, it reveals the lifestyle of people who moved from spending most of their time to all of their time inside internet cafes.

A man eats his dinner in front of a computer screen at one of Japan's internet cafes, where a growing number of young men permanently live in between working shifts

A man lies down to sleep inside one of the internet cafe cubicles, which many people have made their home

Pictured left and right are the makeshift homes of two young people nicknamed 'internet cafe refugees'

A man sleeps on the floor of his computer gaming cubicle. Internet cafe refugees have become a huge problem in Japan as men find it easier to live in the cafes they spend most of their free time at instead of renting an apartment

The trend started in the 1990s with some young men spending a growing amount of their time playing video games, and then graduating into low paid mindless jobs which occupied the space in between going back to the cafe.

Eventually they moved permanently into the 24-hour cafes, which have cubicles where the computer user can fall asleep as well as bathrooms where they can freshen up before heading off to work.

They live in a world where they drift from one darkened cubicle to the next in between working in jobs that keep them on the edge of society.

One such refugee is 26-year-old Fumiya, works as a security guard on a construction site in between spending the rest of his time at the internet cafe.

He is spotted in the documentary chain-smoking and using the computer.

He said: 'I originally wanted an apartment of course but it was expensive here in the city, so I decided to just live at the Internet cafe.

'I spent most of my time there anyway hanging out, so it wasn't really much of a step to spend the rest of my time there.

'I must admit it is not that easy to sleep here, you never feel rested because there's always noises and disturbances going on around but it's got great facilities. I had hoped I'd be able to save some money but it doesn't really work out like that. It's just getting me from one day to the next.'

Social worker Makoto Kawazoe said internet cafe 'refugees' such as Fumiya started appearing in the late 1990s but became a larger social issue in the 2000's.

'Currently in Japan about 38 per cent of people are temporary workers, most temporary workers have very short-term contracts and usually less than half of full-time employees. This disparity leads directly to poverty.

'It's also hard to get unemployment benefits in Japan. In our society once you lose your job, you cannot easily survive.'

The cafes feature everything that is needed for someone to live in, including showers and kitchen facilities

The cubicles are extremely small but have become popular homes for men who would spend most of their spare time at the cafes anyway

He added: 'So people want to become full-time employees but once they gain full-time jobs what's waiting for them is long hours and high stress work.'

Tadayuki Sakai is one of those unable to cope with the stress of daily work and after one day telling his boss he was too busy to go for a drink after work, ended up being sidelined for a month.

He said he was diagnosed as suffering from depression, and eventually quit his job after being repeatedly being passed over for promotion.

Ever since then he has been living for four months in the internet cafe, and said he did not regret giving up his credit card company job.

He said: 'I was putting in between 120 and 200 hours of overtime a month. I had to manage computer systems. I didn't even have time to go home, although now I don't have a home.

'When I was there I used to sleep at the office so it's not much different, (at the office) I couldn't tell if it was day or night either.'

Director Shiho Fukada's short film is one part of a series of three films that expose the darker side of Japan, which feature perspectives that defy the cheery, cute-obsessed culture popularized in the media.

The other two films, Overworked to Suicide (about overworked white collar workers) and Dumping Ground (about the homeless elderly), are available to view online.

Nowhere to go: A man brushes his teeth in the bathroom facilities of a Japanese internet cafe

Luggage owned by those living permanently at internet cafes sits in the hallway outside computer cubicles