Is the Japanese government siphoning 3.8 million yen per international student from the education budget to support them at the expense of domestic students, who instead have to pay back their student loans? No, that's not true: The total financial aid international students are eligible for in Japan is much lower than the figure shared on social media. The claim is an old copypasta that has spread throughout the Chiebukuro forum, a popular Q&A forum site in Japan, since 2005.
The claim reappeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) published on November 6, 2023, with the description (translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff):
The Liberal Democratic Party supports international students giving each 3.8 million Yen while forcing Japanese students to borrow money.
The man in the video is Ryoji Kutsuzawa, a politician representing the fringe Japan Reform Party. Kutsuzawa also claims that the total budget spent by the government on international students is around 900 billion yen (currently about $6 billion). This figure was calculated by Kutsuzawa himself, who believes that current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to reach a total of 500,000 international students studying in Japan.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Nov 8 01:53:16 2023 UTC)
According to information on scholarships provided by the Ministry of Education and the Japan Student Services Organization, the total financial aid given to each international student can amount to up to 1 million to 2 million yen (almost $6,700 to $13,370), falling short of 3.8 million (approximately $25,400) shared in the social media video.
The figure 3.8 million yen doesn't appear anywhere on the Ministry of Education (MEXT) or on the Japan Student Services Organization websites. According to the MEXT website, a government-sponsored monthly scholarship of 144,000 yen is given to research students pursuing a master's or a doctorate. As for undergraduates and any international student seeking financial aid, the MEXT provides monthly stipends through the Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship Program awarded to students with "excellent academic and character records." For graduates and undergraduates, a monthly stipend of 48,000 yen can be given for 12 months, meaning that international students seeking financial support can receive up to 576,000 yen per annum (about $3,850). By adding the 144,000 yen monthly scholarship for graduates and doctoral students to the monthly stipend of the Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship -- if a student qualifies for both -- the total amount per person per year reaches approximately 2.3 million yen (or $15,375). Both figures are far below the 3.8 million claimed by Kutsuzawa.
The false claim has been circulating for years: It comes from a copypasta -- a portion of text copied and shared on the web and social media -- circulating on Chiebukuro from 2005:
(Source: Screenshot taken from Chiebukuro on Thu Nov 9 04:48:34 2023 UTC)
(Source: Screenshot from Buzzfeed Japan taken on Thu Nov 9 04:09:21 2023 UTC)
