
Meeting Japan's cyber homeless - ionfish
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7953376.stm
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sho
５万円 a month is the absolute cheapest he could find? That's hard to believe. A
shared room at that time-honoured refuge of newly arrived gaijin, sakura
house, runs around 47k/m and that would be way better than the cubicle in that
video. And that's in Tokyo proper - Chiba or Saitama would be even less. Hell,
I have a friend who lives in minami-sunamachi, rents a one-bedroom apartment
and it costs 59k. That's Edogawa ward, 20 minutes from shinjuku, $590/month!
That's not including utilities and stuff of course, but still, you get the
idea.

Memories of the late 80s/early 90s notwithstanding, Tokyo is not at all
expensive compared to other world cities. Compared to Sydney or, worse,
London, it's actually pretty cheap. You could definitely do better than that.
Weird.

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patio11
Important clarification for many people reading this discussion: the sticker
price of a Japanese apartment is not anywhere close to the amount of money it
requires to actually move into it. I pay 45,000 yen (approximately $450) a
month for my apartment in central Japan. Its quite spacious and very much in
the stix. However, three days before movein I had to wire my landlord
approximately $2,000.

2 months security deposit (nota bene: as a matter of course, this is not
returned in this country), 1 month rent, 1 month finder fee, various
insurance, etc, etc

That includes NO key money.

"Key money" (礼金) is a fun little idiosyncracy of Japanese real estate that
says your landlord is sort of your buddy in a new town so you should give them
a little gift to ensure their good favor. This gift can range from 1 to 3+
months rent, in cash, delivered prior to move-in. You will never see it again.
The social justification for the tradition is long since dead (I've never even
met my landlord, just the apartment referral service that handled everything)
but, like all societal traditions that result in someone making money, it is
shockingly durable.

There are other reasons I could name why a pay-by-the-day option is preferable
to a traditional rented apartment (lack of a guarantor, lack of verifiable
employment, etc) for folks in desperate situations, but I won't bore you too
much. Suffice it to say that I'm glad I'm not in that situation but I
understand why someone in it would choose to be "virtually" homeless.

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netcan
Sounds near the point where landlords are incentivized to have a high turnover
rate. At a 1 year average turnover & the higher key money estimate, that's
>50% extra revenue (then indefinite tenants) with <10% extra cost (assuming
finders fee & insurance goes to finders & insurers).

Here (Melbourne) You usually need approximately 3X1 month to rent (more if you
include average contact breaking costs). Deposits get held by bureaucrats so
no one is incentivized in any way.

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arram
An internet cafe in Tokyo was easily the worst nights sleep I've ever had. The
cubes aren't big enough to actually stretch out (admittedly, this might not be
a problem for most Asians), so you end up folding your legs over a footrest
with 8" of clearance under the desk. Every 40 minutes somebody's alarm goes
off.

~~~
eru
Earplugs?

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quellhorst
Looks like those people could make it to 'ramen profitable' quickly.

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plusbryan
Hero Protagonist

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mpk
Sorry for being pedantic, but it's 'Hiro'.

Good call, btw.

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mynameishere
If it was really cheap I wouldn't mind that. The trick is obviously to go
somewhere whenever you aren't sleeping.

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mainsequence
Apparently we won't be forced to enter our "Matrix" pods, the economy will
make it the only option.

~~~
DannoHung
I keep hoping that following a certain level of technological sophistication,
and in absence of further sophistication as to make your corporeal body wholly
unnecessary that having no possessions and no permanent residence will be seen
as normal. What could you need but the clothes on your back, the shoes on your
feet, and the terminal implanted in your head?

Maybe I've been reading too many Culture novels.

~~~
eru
People will probably still have sentimental attachements to souveniers. But
apart from that, you may be right --- taking the current the lifestyle of some
rich people as an indicator.

Of course we'd have to dramatically lower the transaction costs for short term
rents of various goods that you may want to us.

