Photo/Illutration Members of the Shogakukin Chokeshi Project group discuss the results of its survey on student loans in Tokyo in September. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Suicide due in part to difficulties in repaying student loans featured in at least 10 cases last year under new government criteria for judging why people take their lives.

It is the first time such a figure has become available because the repayment of student loans was newly added to a list of motives in suicide statistics.

When prefectural police conclude a person committed suicide, the motive is analyzed based on a suicide note where applicable and statements given by bereaved family members, according to the National Police Agency and the welfare ministry.

Last year the government changed the classification methods, allowing officials to choose up to four motives from 75 options. Until 2021, a maximum of three could be selected from 52 options.

“Difficulties in repaying student loans” was among the motives picked for the 10 people: six men in their 20s and 30s and four women in their teens, 20s and 40s.

In fiscal 2021, 1.48 million students received scholarships and loans from the Japan Students Services Organization (JASSO). About 80 percent took out loans.

Generally, loans are repaid over 12 to 20 years after students graduate. In some cases, the amount to be repaid totals around 10 million yen ($71,400).

A group called Shogakukin Chokeshi Project (Student loan cancellation project) last year conducted a survey of people who are repaying JASSO student loans or who have already done so.

About 30 percent of the approximately 2,700 respondents said they defaulted on their loans at some point.

Some people said they became suicidal when they fell into arrears.

Nana Iwamoto, 24, a member of the group, said she believes that the 10 cases in the latest government data are only the tip of the iceberg and that many more people must have taken their own lives due to difficulties in repaying student loans.

Those who default on their loans typically have a low income and feel psychologically driven into a corner due to gloomy prospects about their future, she said.

In such cases, many people consider suicide rather than filing for personal bankruptcy because they fear that their guarantors, such as family members, would be left to repay the amount owed.

While the government has started taking steps on student loans to help people who are going on to higher education or those who face the risk of defaulting on their loans, nothing is being done for those who are in arrears in loan repayments, said Masayuki Kobayashi, a professor of education at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo.

Kobayashi said those who have defaulted on their loans should be allowed to repay the balance in smaller increments even though they are not currently entitled to concessions on repayments.

Records show that 21,881 people in 2022 committed suicide, up 874 from the previous year for the first increase in two years.

(This article was written by Chika Yamamoto and Hidemasa Yoshizawa.)

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