A record ¥72.3 billion in school loans was not repaid in fiscal 2008 due to the economic downturn, up 10 percent from the year before, the government-affiliated Japan Student Services Organization said Sunday.
Telephone calls requesting a moratorium on repayments saw a sharp increase to about 120,000 cases per month on average, prompting the organization to create a new call center.
Many students who continued research after getting a master's degree failed to make repayments, partly because many of them work as part-time teachers and make less than ¥2 million a year.
JASSO grants a five-year moratorium to people with an annual salary of ¥3 million or less.
It may consider slashing repayments or even waiving the debt for people who have suffered a sharp salary cut.