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.

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.

One such refugee is 26-year-old Fumiya, who 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 2000s.