Netizens have been talking about the story of a 40 year old freeter, who has started the process of declaring himself bankrupt because he is unable to repay the loans he took out to fund his education.
The man, who currently works two part-time jobs, suffered with a mental illness during his final year at university, and found himself unable to find work thereafter, resulting in huge arrears on his initial loan.
Netizens commented in droves on this article, particularly on Twitter. Opinion was largely split between those who sympathized and thought the government needed to do more for students, and those who blamed the entire situation on foreign (read: Chinese and Korean) exchange students in Japan. There were also those who accused universities of shameless profiteering.
Regardless, given the increasing numbers of Japanese young people engaged in precarious labor, the school loan issue is one that warrants serious consideration in the coming years.
From Yahoo! Japan:
40 Year Old Freeter Declares Himself Bankrupt, Unable To Pay Back School Loans; Monthly Income 140,000 Yen, “I Can’t Pay 2,830,000 Yen”
A male freeter (40) from Kokurakita ward, Kitakyūshū City has been give the go-ahead to begin bankruptcy proceedings by the Kokura branch of the Fukuoka district court for being unable to repay school loans taken out in his high school and university years. Including arrears, the man has obligation to repay around 2,830,000 yen [approx $23,785]; however, he explained that “Even if I take out a consumer loan for my school loans, I still won’t be able to repay them. They wouldn’t lend me such a large sum in the first place”. Some commentators have pointed out that if poverty among young people grows due to irregular employment, then there is the possibility that bankruptcy applications like this one, which are solely due to people being unable to pay their school loans, will rise.
The man took out interest-free school loans from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) starting from his high school education in the 1990s through to his university graduation after his father’s business failed. When in high school, he borrowed 11,000 yen per month, and when in university 41,000 yen per month, and his initial repayment period was from December 1993 to September 2012. When he’d had enough money, the plan was to repay around 160,000 yen.
A chart showing the total school loans owing and the number of people who have not repaid them. The red line indicates the total sum owing (in hundred millions), while the orange blocks show the number of people who have not repaid (in thousands). The x axis shows the year in question.
But in his third year of university he suffered mental illness, and unable to find work after graduation he went into arrears having only paid a total of 92,000 yen. He went on trying to make a living through part-time jobs, and was granted an extension on his repayment period, but he was still unable to repay. In August last year, He was sued by the organization for repayments. In November, he was ordered to pay a total of around 2,830,000 yen in unpaid loans and arrears.
At present, the man is working two part-time jobs, and his take-home wage is around 140,000 yen per month [approx. $1,177]. When you take out fuel bills, rent, and the allowance he sends to his family, he has just over 20,000 yen to live on per month [approx. $168]. He had no savings and no prospect of repaying his loans, so he embarked upon declaring himself bankrupt. He was given the go-ahead to proceed in on February 4 2015, and if there is no challenge from his creditors, he will be awarded bankruptcy in April.
According to the “National Council For Strategy On School Loans” (Tokyo), which is made up of scholars and lawyers, there have previously been similar cases where people have fallen into multiple loans from consumer loan companies in order to be able to repay their school loans, but have then been declared bankrupt; however, recently cases where people are being declared bankrupt just because of their school loans have started to emerge.
Comments from Twitter:
えんDo（脱原発）:
Scary, you can’t just relax and take out school loans anymore.
蓮見唯香:
Rather than there being a problem with school loans, I think there’s a problem with university management who only think of how much money they can earn.
Dragon:
For the most part, doesn’t it go like this? : They know that a school loan is a loan, but they still borrow, go to university, have the time of their lives, and then they’re not able to get decent jobs afterward.
Masa (NaOH):
I wonder if before long we’ll have a set up where people like this automatically get sent to the military…@syohiro1965
DigiTube:
I really have to take care to make sure that I don’t end up like this. Still, it’s true that scholarships are not actually scholarships. [NB: The term “shogakukin” in Japanese can mean an outright scholarship, or a bursary that has to be repaid].
まんまる:
This is the kind of news that the Communist Party are going to pounce on. Mr. Miyamoto, you’re up.
日本共産党青年・学生後援会: [This is a youth Communist organization]
Scholarships that should be boosting the hopes and dreams of our young people are actually destroying their lives. This should not be happening. It’s imperative that we expand the safety net for school loan repayments.
きりょ:
Cool (going cold) Japan (Japan’s current state).
takeshi 猫団:
Super expensive ～
マルクフ:
If he’s going bankrupt with 2,830,000 yen of debt, then my future ain’t looking too rosy…
King_of_711:
Such a miserable story…
企画を考えるお仕事の人:
He’s doing two part-time jobs and he’s still only earning 140,000 yen per month? Just seems really strange to me.
やまぐちけんすけ:
As a middle aged freeter like him, there but for the grace of god…(´・c_・`)
散歩大好きHIRO-MRA:
If he did late night labor in Tokyo he might still be able to pay it back.
We don’t know how much he’s sending to his family as an allowance, but I don’t suppose there was anywhere he could cut back?
bijou:
They should stop giving scholarships that don’t have to be repaid and include spending money to foreign students who have anti-Japanese thoughts, and give them to Japanese students. But they should only give them to students who have excellent grades.
dad?tachan♪:
Change the way that they give scholarships to foreigners (Chinese/Korean/North Korean)!!
jonathan:
As far as scholarships are concerned, they give around 30 billion yen in subsidiaries to foreign exchange students (these are virtually all Chinese and Korean exchange students). What a hearty welcome they get.
