TOKYO, JAPAN - Japan on Friday opened a support centre for "Internet cafe refugees" to help the growing number of cash-strapped young people who virtually live in all-night Internet lounges.

Japan's economy has been recovering from recession in the 1990s, but critics say that many of the new jobs for young people are inadequate and are creating a new class of urban poverty.

The Japanese labour ministry last year estimated some 5,400 people, many young and working in temporary jobs, had virtually moved in to the all-night Internet and comic cafes found regularly in major cities like Tokyo.

In the first action to help them, the ministry and the Tokyo government set up a support centre called Tokyo Challenge Net in the bustling district of Shinjuku.

The centre will provide loans of up to 200,000 yen (1,900 dollars) for living expenses and 400,000 for rent while giving advice on how to save money and secure a place to live.

Those asking for help will also receive information on medical care and jobm seeking, the labour ministry said.

The centre has already received numerous inquiries with its advisors fully booked with appointments for the next three days, said Tokyo government welfare official Isao Matsumoto.

"Those who don't have stable living conditions also face difficulties in securing stable jobs," Matsumoto told AFP. "We want to give a second chance to as many people as possible."

The labour ministry's report on "Internet cafe refugees" shocked Japan, which has long prided itself on being a 100-percent middle-class nation with its cities mostly free of the slums seen in much of the world.

The governments of western Osaka and central Aichi prefectures plan to set up similar support centres next month. --AFP