Half of Japan univ. students cut food spending as 98% feel prices too high: survey

TOKYO — About a half of university students in Japan cut spending on foodstuffs to make ends meet as almost all students feel prices are high, according to the result of a July survey.

The survey was jointly conducted online from July 4 to 14 by the Mainichi Shimbun and Tokyo-based IT firm Penmark Inc., which offers a schedule management app for college students called “Penmark.” A total of 1,116 first- to fourth-year university students responded to 13 questions.

When asked how much spending money they have each month, 34.6% of respondents selected “between 10,000 yen and 29,999 yen (roughly $70 to $210),” followed by 27.2% choosing “between 30,000 yen and 49,999 yen (approx. $210 to $350). The total of these top two responses accounted for over 60%. On the other hand, 4.1% said they could use “100,000 yen (about $700) or more.”

The survey also asked, “Do you feel prices are high?” and 98.3% of respondents answered, “Yes.”

When asked to select up to three items from a list of 16 items that they feel are particularly expensive, the most common answer was “food” at 77.0%. This was followed by “eating out” at 38.3%, “beverages” at 27.9%, “transportation” at 24.3%, and “entertainment and hobbies” at 15.4%.

How are the students coping with these high prices? With a maximum of three choices, “food” was the most common item that respondents cut spending on, selected by 51.0%. This was followed by “clothing and fashion” chosen by 36.6%, “beverages” at 31.5%, “eating out” at 30.6%, and “entertainment and hobbies” at 19.8%.

Penmark CEO Naoaki Yokoyama speculated, “I think there is a growing tendency to trim spending on food and beverages, but at the same time to put money into eating out and socializing with friends.”

While “clothing and fashion” was only ranked sixth, selected by 13.9%, among the 16 items that respondents felt were expensive, this was the second most common choice to save money on. Also, “entertainment and hobbies” was ranked fifth in both questions, but more students were saving money on them than felt they were expensive.

Yokoyama pointed out that these items are easy to be put on the list of things to save on, saying, “They may be easy to cut back on because people can get fulfillment to a certain extent for a lower price.”

Many students seemed to feel that there are price differences between urban and rural areas. Respondents’ experiences written in a free answer section included, “When I went to eat sushi in Shibuya (in Tokyo), even though it was the same chain restaurant, there was a difference of 20 yen to 100 yen (roughly 14 cents to 70 cents) per plate,” and, “When I went to Osaka, the gasoline price (per liter) was about 10 yen higher.” Another student wrote, “Because items (beverages) in vending machines around my hometown are around 120 yen, I was surprised to see they are around 180 yen to 200 yen (about $1.30 to $1.40) in the center of the capital.”

(Japanese original by Tsuyoshi Goto, Business News Department)