Japan's Students Skip Meals as Rising Prices Outpace Scholarships

Food and Rent Put Scholarship Students Under Pressure

More than 90 percent of 350 university students receiving scholarships said they were finding it increasingly difficult to manage their finances, according to a survey by the Osaka nonprofit D×P. More than three quarters said rising food costs were making it hard to get by, and 56 percent reported not getting proper meals. Students from single-parent households faced the greatest pressure, including difficulty paying rent and buying enough food.

Japan's university students were confronting these problems as of August 31, 2025, amid a sharp rise in everyday prices. The core consumer price index rose 3.7 percent in May, its highest increase in more than two years. Rice prices climbed 101 percent compared with a year earlier, putting one of the country's most basic foods beyond some students' usual budgets.

Scholarships have not kept pace with rising living expenses and tuition fees. Students must cover the difference through work, help from relatives or spending cuts. For those whose families have little money to spare, cutting back can mean missing meals rather than giving up optional purchases.

A student speaking to D×P described what that pressure meant at mealtimes:

I can't afford three meals a day anymore. Sometimes I just have rice and pickles.

D×P head Imai Noriaki called for emergency government support and higher scholarship payments to match rising costs. He warned that financial aid was standing still while the bills students needed to pay continued to grow.

Many students face a crisis. Grant-type scholarships remain the same for students even though the cost of living and tuition fees keep rising.

Grant scholarships provide money that students do not have to repay. Their value depends on what that money can buy. When food, housing and education become more expensive while the payment stays unchanged, students can afford less even though the amount arriving in their accounts is the same.

Why Food Prices Are Rising So Quickly

Japan has long been associated with stable prices and low inflation. The current surge represents a difficult change for households accustomed to relatively predictable spending. Students face the same higher prices as other consumers, but their budgets often depend on fixed scholarship payments and limited earnings.

Food manufacturers planned price increases on more than 2,100 items in July, averaging 15 percent, according to a food price survey. Those increases extended the pressure beyond a single staple to a much wider range of purchases.

Rice became a particularly painful example. Its 101 percent annual increase in May meant that its price had more than doubled. The government responded by releasing emergency rice stockpiles, a step typically reserved for natural disasters. For students who rely on rice as an inexpensive part of their diet, that rise made even simple meals harder to afford.

Global supply chain disruptions, including those caused by the war in Ukraine, have pushed up the costs of imported goods and energy. A weak yen adds another layer of pressure: when Japan's currency buys less abroad, imported food and fuel become more expensive in yen. Rising labor and transportation costs are also being passed on to customers.

Wages have remained largely stagnant while these expenses have increased. Purchasing power, the amount of goods and services a person can buy with their income, has consequently fallen. A student earning about the same amount as before must now use more of that income for the same shopping basket.

What a Student Budget Must Cover

Tokyo illustrates how quickly ordinary expenses can absorb student income. Published student living estimates and living cost estimates describe expenses that vary by city, accommodation and lifestyle. An average monthly student spending estimate for Tokyo is 93,000 yen, about $600, including rent.

Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo and Fukuoka are described as slightly less expensive, although their costs remain substantial. The estimates also give individual housing and household expenses that show why a student's choice of accommodation matters so much:

• Rent for a room in a share house in Tokyo: 65,000 yen a month.
• Rent for a private apartment in Tokyo: 80,000 yen a month.
• Utilities: 16,000 yen a month.
• Groceries: 45,200 yen a month.
• Public transport: 5,600 yen a month.

A private apartment at the quoted rent costs 15,000 yen more each month than a share house. Both housing figures take up a large part of the 93,000 yen student spending estimate, showing how widely actual budgets can vary with accommodation and other expenses.

Prepared food also carries a substantial cost. A bowl of ramen is priced at 800 to 1,500 yen, while a simple convenience store meal can cost 400 to 600 yen. These purchases may be modest individually, but repeated throughout a month they compete with rent, transport and study expenses.

The wage figure cited for Tokyo is 1,072 yen an hour, alongside a limit of up to 28 hours of work a week for students in the circumstances described. Even students working part time face difficulty covering essentials without sacrificing time needed for their studies. More hours at work can help pay a bill, but they also leave fewer hours for classes and coursework.

Tuition Adds a Second Financial Burden

National university tuition ranges from around 535,800 to 642,960 yen a year. Private university fees average 1,477,339 yen. These education costs come on top of everyday living expenses and are often paid upfront, creating a large payment to meet at once.

The private university average is more than twice either end of the quoted national university range. Students therefore face very different financial demands depending on where they study, even before differences in rent and local prices are considered.

Most grant scholarships have remained unchanged for years. Rising tuition and living costs reduce their real value, leaving students to fill a growing gap with earnings, family support or cuts to essentials. Students from households with low incomes or only one parent have fewer places to turn for additional money.

D×P's findings connect that gap to concrete hardship. More than three quarters of the students surveyed struggled with rising food costs, while 56 percent were not getting proper meals. Food and rent are recurring bills, so an unchanged grant creates pressure month after month rather than only when tuition falls due.

Energy Subsidies and Cash Payments Offer Relief

The government approved 388.1 billion yen from reserve funds in May to subsidize energy bills for households and businesses during the summer. The measure aimed to reduce electricity and gas costs, helping with one part of the household budget.

The energy assistance formed part of a broader relief package worth up to 2.8 trillion yen, including contributions from local governments and private companies. Critics argued that the measures were temporary and left the underlying financial problems of students and other vulnerable groups unresolved.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resisted calls to cut the consumption tax, a tax added to purchases. Instead, he offered payments of 20,000 yen per citizen ahead of elections, with twice that amount for children. A single cash payment can help meet an immediate expense, while the continuing cost of food, rent and tuition requires money every month or academic year.

Economists warned that temporary payments could add to inflation and public debt without delivering lasting relief. Japan's public debt exceeds 250 percent of gross domestic product, according to the tax reform analysis. Gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the value of goods and services produced in the economy; the comparison shows the size of government debt relative to that annual output.

The argument for comprehensive tax reform concerns how Japan can fund public support while keeping government finances sustainable. For students, the more immediate demand is narrower: emergency assistance and scholarship payments that reflect what everyday necessities now cost.

Employers Use Housing and Debt Support to Attract Youth

Japanese companies are responding to young workers' financial concerns with student loan repayment benefits and subsidized housing. These measures also serve employers trying to recruit and retain staff as the workforce shrinks and ages.

The number of businesses providing student loan repayment benefits doubled over the preceding year, according to coverage of young worker benefits. Unlike grant scholarships, student loans leave borrowers with money to repay. An employer contribution reduces the amount a worker must find from their own pay.

Nippon Life and Itochu are among the companies building dormitories where employees pay rent below market rates and receive meals and amenities. Employer housing is becoming more common, connecting recruitment with two of the expenses troubling students most: accommodation and food.

Japan's population of workers aged 20 to 24 has fallen by 36 percent over the past 30 years. By 2040, the country could face a shortage of 11 million workers. Companies hope that easing debt and living expenses will make them more attractive to the next generation of employees.

These benefits are tied to employment, while D×P's call concerns support during university. The two responses address different stages of young people's finances: paying for education and living costs now, then managing housing and any student debt after entering work.

Costs Reshape Plans to Study Abroad

Japanese students are also reconsidering where to study overseas. Rising expenses and a weak yen have made traditional Western destinations harder to afford, encouraging interest in other Asian countries with lower tuition and living costs.

Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines are becoming more attractive alternatives, according to coverage of study destinations in Asia. The currency problem follows students abroad: when the yen is weak, the same yen savings buy less accommodation, food and education priced in another currency.

The government is pursuing two goals through its J-MIRAI strategy. It aims to attract 400,000 international students to Japan by 2033 and send 500,000 Japanese students overseas. Both ambitions depend in part on students being able to afford the move.

Financial barriers sit alongside mismatched academic calendars and concerns about the job market. Different term dates can complicate arranging an overseas course, while uncertainty about employment can affect how students judge the value and timing of study abroad. Lower costs in another destination may help with the budget, but money is only one part of the decision.

Rising Prices Feed Political Discontent

Sanseito and other populist parties have gained ground by drawing on frustration over rising prices and stagnant wages. Young voters and people on low incomes who feel left behind by mainstream parties are among those attracted to calls for change.

Sanseito's gains in recent elections reflect a wider mood of pessimism about the future. Coverage of its election campaign described that discontent alongside unease about foreigners.

The student experience gives the cost debate a concrete focus. A higher food bill, a rent payment that is difficult to meet or a scholarship that buys less can make national economic policy feel immediate. The dispute over tax cuts, cash payments and longer lasting support is also a dispute over how quickly households should receive help and how that help should be financed.

Persistent Inflation Complicates the Response

Tsutomu Watanabe, an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, warned that inflation was stronger than he had expected. In his inflation assessment, he described the strength of price increases:

It's beyond my expectation and very strong this year.

Watanabe predicted that the Bank of Japan would need to raise interest rates again. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive and can slow spending, helping to restrain price increases. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, however, signaled caution while assessing the effects of U.S. tariffs and other external factors.

Students and advocacy groups are pressing for support aimed directly at education and living expenses. Their proposals include adjusting scholarships and financial aid to reflect higher costs, alongside comprehensive tax reform and investment in affordable housing.

The timing of a scholarship increase or a new emergency package specifically for students had not been given. The gap between current aid and current bills therefore remained an immediate concern as of August 31, while decisions on interest rates and broader fiscal measures continued.

The Dates Behind the Financial Squeeze

The pressure developed through a series of price increases and policy responses during 2025. The longer targets for education and employment show why the issue extends beyond a single month's food bill.

• May 2025: Core consumer prices rose 3.7 percent, while rice prices increased 101 percent compared with a year earlier.
• May 2025: The government approved 388.1 billion yen from reserve funds for summer energy subsidies.
• July 2025: Food manufacturers planned increases on more than 2,100 items, averaging 15 percent.
• August 31, 2025: Students continued to face rising living and tuition costs while scholarship amounts remained unchanged.
• 2033: J-MIRAI aims to bring 400,000 international students to Japan and send 500,000 Japanese students abroad.
• 2040: Japan could face a shortage of 11 million workers.

For students facing today's expenses, the central problem is the difference between money coming in and bills going out. Government energy assistance can reduce one expense, and employer benefits can help after university. D×P's appeal focuses on the period in between, when students need enough food, secure housing and time to complete their education.

Key Points

• More than 90 percent of 350 scholarship students surveyed by D×P reported increasing financial difficulty; 56 percent were not getting proper meals.
• Students from single-parent households faced particularly severe problems paying rent and buying food.
• May core inflation reached 3.7 percent, and rice prices rose 101 percent compared with a year earlier.
• Unchanged scholarships are buying less as living expenses and tuition rise.
• Government measures include summer energy subsidies and proposed payments of 20,000 yen per citizen, doubled for children.
• Employers are expanding student loan repayment benefits and housing support to attract young workers.
• Higher costs are encouraging interest in Asian study destinations and contributing to political discontent.
• D×P is calling for emergency student support and scholarship increases that keep pace with inflation.