A Voice of University Students

Suzuno Taira

Have you heard of the phenomenon known as the “poverty of university students”? Recently, we often hear or see the words “childhood poverty” in the mass media such as in newspapers or on TV. This kind of poverty has become a very serious social issue. Okinawa is facing this huge wall of difficulty as well. Although those reports cover the great difficulties that young children face, issues with university students like us seem to be less focused. I feel that there is a need to throw a spotlight on the issue of poverty among university students since it touches upon various kinds of problems.

Even though childhood poverty is one of the biggest issues in Japan, when it comes to university students, it is difficult to see it as a controversial topic on the daily news. In fact, looking at one of the local newspapers in Okinawa, there are 27 articles about poverty but none about poverty among university students during October 2016. Behind those reports, there are a thousand university students suffering from poverty.

Considering the way they work, we might be able to observe some aspects of university students' poverty. According to Atsuhiko Nakamura who is a writer, specializing in gender issues in Japan, there is a compelling story about one female university student. She came from the countryside to attend a very prestigious university. However, there the expenses she had to pay were much too high, something like 145,000 yen per month for school tuition and living expenses, so the student loan she took out were very high. To pay them, she decided she had to find work in a sex-related business. Shockingly, she is not the only person selling herself. Nowadays, the number of female university students who engage in the sex-related business is increasing in Japan. At the same time, male students have also been found to work in the same industry. As a result, they become so exhausted from work that they cannot concentrate on their studies and end up failing their classes despite the quick way they earn money to make a living and pay their school debts.

Actually, I am also like one of these young people. In my house, there is a rule that I have to pay for all the costs that are related to my schooling. To pay off those expenses, I have to work in two part-time jobs but still owe student loans to pay money for bills such as a school tuition, cell phone, traffic expense, and so on. I have been working so hard to make so little money. Though I've been suffering economically through this challenging condition, I haven’t even been able to pay all of my tuition yet. It is like living in a barbaric society. When I think that I have to keep working every day until I finish paying off the school tuition for the rest of my days as a student, and I don’t even time to do what I love, I cry so hard because it's terrible and it feels like I'm in prison.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that our government spends so much money on funding the military but cuts funds for education. In 2012, the rate of spending for education was only 3.5% while the bureaucrats improved spending for new military weapons quite dramatically. Are we becoming America?

I believe we that we citizens need real support from the government to make a better society. We seek more financial aid that doesn’t enslave us with huge debt obligations. In this way, we can throw more effort into our studies, which will help us build a better future. Now, the issue of university students draws so little attention in this society, but it must be worthy of widespread notice because university students are an important part of the future that maintains this vibrant society. If students cannot receive sufficient support, what will the future of our culture be like?