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Japan, with its unique blend of ancient culture and technological innovation, offers a compelling environment for ambitious PhD students. Whether you’re diving into cutting-edge research or exploring the bustling streets, life as a doctoral candidate here is full of potential. But to truly thrive, understanding the ins and outs of admissions, budgeting for your lifestyle, and mastering the Japanese language is key.
Advantages of Pursuing PhD in Tokyo
Application Process and Timeline for a PhD Program
Can You Apply From Overseas?
Navigating financial waters: living as a phd student, working while you learn, mastering japanese: a strategic move for phd students in japan, the key to professional opportunities, advantages of pursuing a phd in tokyo.
There are many advantages to pursuing an English-speaking PhD or master’s degree in Tokyo. Here are just a few:
Embarking on a PhD in Japan starts with navigating the admissions process. Programs in English are widely available, particularly in science and technology, economics, business, and various interdisciplinary fields. Admission requires a relevant master’s degree, a well-defined research proposal, and often proficiency in English or Japanese. The admission process for PhD programs in Japan typically varies from university to university. However, the general steps involved in the application process are as follows:
The application deadlines for English-speaking PhD and Master’s programs in Tokyo typically range from April to June. However, it is always best to check with the individual university for the most up-to-date information.
Applications for English-speaking PhD and Master’s programs in Tokyo can typically be submitted from overseas. The application process is usually online, and you must submit the required documents digitally. However, some universities may also require you to send a physical copy of your application materials.
Various | April – June | Online | |
October-December (Might depend on the program) | April – June | Online | |
Various | April – June | Online | |
Ph.D. in Music Therapy | April – June | Online | |
Arts and Sciences Program | April – June | Online | |
Various | October-December (Might depends on the program) | Online |
Scholarships such as MEXT, Rotary Yoneyama Foundation Scholarships, or university-specific grants are vital in supporting your academic journey. They cover everything from tuition fees to living expenses, allowing you to immerse in your studies and the rich culture of Japan. Read what each scholarship offers below!
This scholarship is offered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). There are scholarships available for privately financed international students, as well as those under student exchange agreements. The application for the 2024 MEXT Japanese Studies Scholarship will open in January 2024 . Value of Award:
This scholarship is provided for future students of Japanese universities and graduate schools. This program serves two different application periods. If your expected enrollment is April 2024, the deadline is March 1, 2024 . If the expected enrollment is September/October 2024, the deadline is August 1, 2024.
Value of Award:
This fellowship is awarded to postdoctoral researchers who are conducting research in Japan. The JSPS offers two different programs long-term and Short-term; the application period is from mid-April to June 7, 2023 .
This is a partial funding international scholarship provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for international students. For those candidates that met all eligibility requirements, you may apply to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster twice every 12 months . If you were not approved with your first application, you may reapply immediately and be included in the next peer review panel cycle.
Additionally, the Asian Development Bank-Japan Scholarship Program (ADB-JSP) offers about 135 graduate scholarships annually for studies in economics, business and management, science and technology, and other development-related fields.
As a PhD student in Japan, you’re allowed to work part-time up to 28 hours a week during term-time and full-time during vacations. This can supplement your scholarship and provide real-world experience, but it’s essential to balance this with your study commitments.
For PhD students aspiring to work in Japan, proficiency in the Japanese language is invaluable. It paves the way for greater job opportunities, deeper cultural integration, and successful networking.
– Cultural Integration: Understanding the language is the first step to truly immersing yourself in Japanese culture and society.
– Work Eligibility: Many employers prefer or require proficiency in Japanese to navigate the local business environment and workplace culture.
– Networking: Speaking Japanese opens up a wealth of networking opportunities that are otherwise inaccessible, helping you to build valuable connections for your career.
If you’re a PhD aspirant in Japan with an eye on the job market, gaining proficiency in Japanese is more than just an academic requirement—it’s a strategic career move. The ability to communicate effectively in Japanese can significantly broaden your professional horizons and make you a compelling candidate in the job market, both during and after your PhD studies.
Our Language Courses: Tailor-Made for Your Success
Recognizing the importance of Japanese language skills for PhD students in Japan, our part-time and online courses are designed to fit into a busy academic schedule:
– Part-Time Japanese Courses These are ideal for PhD students who want to balance their research with language study. With flexible class times, you can learn Japanese without compromising your academic commitments.
– Online Japanese Courses For maximum flexibility, coto’s online Japanese courses allow you to learn from anywhere, at any time. This means you can advance your language skills even during fieldwork or if you’re on a research trip.
As a PhD student in Japan, your success isn’t solely determined by your academic achievements; it also hinges on your ability to navigate the local language and culture. By integrating Coto Japanese language courses into your study routine, you’re not just preparing for your dissertation defense—you’re setting the stage for a flourishing career in Japan. So, take the first step towards unlocking your full potential in the Japanese job market with our dedicated language courses, crafted to help you excel in both your studies and your professional life.
Featured opportunities in japan.
The long and short-term academic programs are available in Japan across many universities and educational centers. International students and researchers may apply to BA, MA, Ph.D., and postdoctoral research programs in Japan. Moreover, summer schools and conferences are excellent academic activities that make Japan an attractive destination for scholars and scientists. Many programs also come with fully-funded scholarships and fellowships, as well as travel grants and financial aid. Thus every student, researcher, and professor can always find a suitable program in Japan and apply.
Japan is willing to welcome international students to their national universities. In 2003, 100,000 international students were studying in Japan, and the government set the target to increase this number to 300.000.
There are adopted policies and strategies to promote the academic goodwill of the country for international students. For example, there are many course schemes taught partially or entirely in English. Also, many universities hire specific staff whose responsibility is to assist international students.
Another significant aspect of convenience is that Japan organizes many exchange programs. Also, instead of the standard Japanese academic year, which starts in April, international students can start their studies from September , as accustomed in many foreign countries.
You might have already explored from the above links that the Japanese government broadly supports international students by covering not only study expenses but also living and other related ones.
The entry requirements differ per university and per program you apply to study in Japan. However, the typical approach of 95% of national universities and 65% of public universities requires EJU, which stands for Examination for Japanese University for international students for undergraduate studies.
Be sure to carefully check the entry requirements, as some universities may require you to take an additional test other than EJU. The cost of those tests may vary near US$67-$125 and is offered twice a year.
EJU is a standard test for assessing the students' basic academic abilities in science, math, and "Japan and the world." You may feel disappointed at this point, as exams are additional stress at the end. However, from another perspective, this test is a second chance to succeed in your academic career, even if your GPA is not high.
In the case of Master's and Ph.D. programs, entry requirements are set by each university. Usually, they are assessments of academic abilities or previous academic progress. For graduate program applications, you will be required to submit a CV, research proposal, statement of purpose, recommendations, previous awards, etc.
In both study levels, you might be required to pass TOEFL or IELTS if the course is taught in English, and the Japanese-language proficiency test , if the course is in Japanese.
You have around 780 university options in Japan, the majority of which are private. The nation's strongest Universities are considered to be the University of Tokyo ( 24th in the QS World University Rankings 2021), Kyoto University (38th), and Tokyo Institute of Technology (56th).
In addition to the mentioned ones, Japan has 38 universities ranked in the global university rankings for the current year. Filter the rankings by country-Japan to receive the whole list of the best Japanese universities.
The oldest university of Japan is considered Komazawa University, founded in 1592 in the Tokyo Metropolis urban area. The 428-year-old Komazawa University exists up to current. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in numerous study areas.
Among other academic opportunities in Japan, you have the chance to apply to Komazawa, enjoying the oldest academic culture of one of the best Asian countries.
So you want to move to Japan, but you're confused about where to even begin? You've found the right place. Whatever your reasons for coming to Japan (or if you're not sure if Japan is right for you) we can help. Before posting, please read the wiki — especially the visa page.
Hello,I am a current undergraduate student planning to graduate May 2024. I am planning to pursue a one year master's program after graduation at the same university I currently attend. I found out that it's possible to take one semester off of study, and I have always wanted to pursue study abroad in Japan for some extent.
I have looked into research for this but a lot of the websites are conflicting. I know that my university does not offer any opportunities for study abroad in Japan (specifically Tokyo area). I have sent emails to a few universities asking about these opportunities (Keio, Waseda, Kyoto), and received responses that are...cryptic. Has anyone been able to do a research study (or some sort of study abroad), between their undergraduate and master's program?
It seems many people go into these programs planning to do their masters in Japan, which I have no interest in. I would prefer to go as a normal student, but as that's not possible, this seems to be the best loophole?
Furthermore, how difficult is it to get into these programs? I am a dual citizen so I am unsure if that will affect my chances. I have a decent GPA at my current university and was wondering if that is enough to enter into these programs.
Thanks for any responses
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Science and technology basic plan, growth slowdown of r&d, key insights.
Detailed statistics
R&D expenditures Japan FY 2013-2022
Ratio of R&D spending to GDP Japan FY 2012-2021
Number of researchers in R&D Japan FY 2012-2021
Science & Research
R&D expenditures Japan FY 2013-2022
Research and development (R&D) expenditures in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022 (in trillion Japanese yen)
Ratio of R&D spending to GDP Japan FY 2012-2021
Ratio of research and development (R&D) expenditures to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021
Number of employees in R&D Japan 2014-2023, by institution type
Number of people employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023, by institution type
Number of scientific paper publications Japan 2012-2021, by collaboration type
Number of paper publications on science and technology in Japan from 2012 to 2021, by collaboration type (in 1,000s)
Share of scientific paper publications Japan 2021, by field
Distribution of paper publications on science and technology in Japan in 2021, by research field
Number of new doctorate holders Japan AY 2011-2020
Number of people who newly obtained doctoral degrees in Japan from academic year 2011 to 2020
R&D expenses Japan FY 2013-2022, by institution type
Research and development (R&D) expenditure in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022, by institution type (in trillion Japanese yen)
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Research and development (R&D) expenditure in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022, by financial resources (in billion Japanese yen)
R&D expenses Japan FY 2013-2022, by item
Research and development (R&D) expenditure in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022, by item (in billion Japanese yen)
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Research and development (R&D) expenditure on natural science in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022, by research type (in trillion Japanese yen)
R&D expenses Japan FY 2022, by research subject
Research and development (R&D) expenditure in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by research subject (in billion Japanese yen)
Share of R&D costs for life sciences Japan FY 2013-2022
Share of research and development (R&D) expenditure for life sciences in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022
Intramural R&D expenditure Japan FY 2012-2021, by institution type
Intramural expenditure on research and development (R&D) in Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
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Intramural expenditure on labor costs in research and development (R&D) in Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
Intramural R&D expenditure on material Japan FY 2012-2021, by institution type
Intramural expenditure on material in research and development (R&D) in Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
Intramural R&D expenditure on tangible assets Japan FY 2012-2021, by institution type
Intramural expenditure on tangible fixed assets in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2012 to 2021, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
Number of researchers in R&D Japan FY 2012-2021
Number of researchers working in research and development (R&D) in Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021 (in 1,000s)
Number of researches in R&D Japan 2014-2023, by gender
Number of researchers employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023 by gender (in 1,000s)
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Number of researchers employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023, by institution type
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Number of assistant researchers employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023, by institution type
Number of R&D technicians Japan 2014-2023, by institution type
Number of technicians employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023, by institution type
Number of R&D clerical personnel Japan 2014-2023, by institution type
Number of clerical and other supporting personnel employed in research and development (R&D) in Japan from 2014 to 2023, by institution type
R&D expenses of NPOs and public institutions Japan FY 2022, by institution type
Research and development (R&D) expenditure of non-profit organizations and public institutions in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
R&D expenses of NPOs and public institutions Japan FY 2022, by field
Research and development (R&D) expenditure of non-profit organizations and public institutions in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by field of science (in billion Japanese yen)
Number of NPOs and public institutions conducting research Japan FY 2022, by field
Number of non-profit organizations and public institutions conducting research in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by field of science
Number of NPOs and public institutions conducting research Japan FY 2022, by type
Number of non-profit institutions and public organizations conducting research in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by institution type
R&D expenses of higher education institutions Japan FY 2013-2022, by type
Research and development (R&D) expenditure of tertiary education institutions in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022, by institution type (in billion Japanese yen)
Average R&D expenses per researcher of tertiary education Japan FY 2022, by field
Average research and development (R&D) expenditure per researcher of tertiary education institutions in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by field of science (in million Japanese yen)
Number of higher education institutions conducting research Japan FY 2022, by field
Number of tertiary education institutions conducting research in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by field of science
Number of higher education institutions conducting research Japan FY 2022, by type
Number of tertiary education institutions conducting research in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by institution type
Number of research collaborations among universities and companies Japan FY 2013-2022
Number of large-scale collaborative research projects among universities and business enterprises in Japan from fiscal year 2013 to 2022
Share of R&D expenses of business enterprises Japan 2022, by industry
Distribution of expenditures on research and development (R&D) of business enterprises in Japan in 2022, by industry
Number of business enterprises conducting research Japan FY 2022, by industry
Number of business enterprises conducting research in Japan in fiscal year 2022, by industry
Share of R&D researchers at business enterprises Japan 2022, by industry
Share of researchers working in research and development (R&D) at business enterprises in Japan in 2022, by industry
Exports value of technology trade by business enterprises Japan FY 2012-2021
Exports value of technology trade by business enterprises in Japan from fiscal year 2012 to 2021 (in trillion Japanese yen)
Technology exchange export value of business enterprises Japan 2023, by industry
Export value of technology exchange among business enterprises in Japan in 2023, by industry (in million Japanese yen)
Share of technology trade export value Japan FY 2021, by destination
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Number of patent applications at the JPO Japan 2014-2023
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Number of patent registrations at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023 (in 1,000s)
Number of utility model applications at the JPO Japan 2014-2023
Number of utility model applications at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023
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Number of trademark applications at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023 (in 1,000s)
Number of trademark registrations at the JPO Japan 2014-2023
Number of trademark registrations at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023 (in 1,000s)
Number of design applications at the JPO Japan 2014-2023
Number of design applications at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023 (in 1,000s)
Number of design registrations at the JPO Japan 2014-2023
Number of design registrations at the Japan Patent Office from 2014 to 2023 (in 1,000s)
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Get set to study in Japan with the help of this article that explains A-Z about your student life and scholarships there!
Why study in japan.
Documents required to study in japan, best universities in japan for international students, living expenses and cost of study in japan for indian students in 2024, study with japan government scholarships in 2024.
Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!
Choosing to study in Japan, the country of the rising sun is one of the best decisions as it is a country well-known for its high standard of education and cutting-edge technology. Whether you're interested in pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or even doctoral degree program in Japan, you'll discover a wide range of options available.
Japan universities for international students welcome more than 250,000 of them from all over the world each year! So, let us help you be one among them by explaining in this blog about all the amazing benefits of choosing to study in Japan.
If you have always dreamt of living in a bustling economy filled with vibrant lifestyles and working opportunities, studying in Japan could be your best option! With an impressively low unemployment rate of merely 2.6% by the year 2024, along with being ranked as the helping one to create a successful career!
As of 2024, Japan is in the process of hunting for specialized skilled workers because of two reasons: an ageing population and a low fertility rate. Hence, the country is facing a real shortage of young workers, and this opens gaps in their labour market. Because of this, to increase its economic growth, Japan is ready to hire 8,00,000 foreign workers in the days to come with specialized skills beginning with fiscal 2024.
Now, the universities in Japan for international students offer excellent programs related to certain industries, encouraging academic and professional development. Hence, considering work opportunities in Japan in these industries listed below, specializing in them can land them in amazing careers shortly.
The Japanese industries students can prefer specializing in are:
Get your dream IELTS band to grab an easy entry in the best universities in Japan!
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There are 2 main kinds of university intake periods in Japan for the international students to enrol in. They are:
|
|
|
| February - April | N/A |
| June - July | April |
| October - November | November |
While planning to study in Japan as an international student, try to gather all the following mentioned documents before you get set to apply.
To make your IELTS preparations hassle-free while you prepare to study in Japan,
Sign up for our FREE online webinars !
Getting into one of the top Japanese universities is a dream for international students and hence, we have curated a list of the best Japan universities for international students that offer popular programs in English-language in the table below.
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|
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| 28 | Economics, Environmental Sciences, Global Health Sciences |
| 46 | Civil Engineering, Intelligence Science and Technology, Sustainable Economic Development Studies |
| 80 | Human Sciences, Science |
| 91 | Global Sciences, Engineering |
| 107 | Engineering, Material Sciences, Life Sciences |
The average monthly cost of living in Japan for India students ranges from Rs. 60,000 to 75,000 in 2024. These expenses cover essential needs such as accommodation, food, transportation, and other key utilities, forming the basic living expenses in Japan.
Look at the following tables to learn more precise details about the living expenses and cost of study in Japan especially for Indian students.
|
|
|
| 15,000-20,000 | 28895 - 38527 |
| 35,000-45,000 | 67423 - 86687 |
| 5000 | 9631 |
| 12,000-13,000 | 23116 - 25042 |
| 13,000/year | 25042 |
Before we talk about the study cost in Japan for international students, did you know Japan is often cheaper than other G7* countries?
These countries, as we know are a group of leading economies, boast top universities and big job opportunities; but they also come with higher costs unlike Japan, which is also one among them.
Let us now see the study cost in Japan which is an affordable alternative for studying in a G7 country!
|
|
|
| INR 2.50-4.37L (approx.) | INR 4.55-5.86L (approx.) |
| INR 2.56-4.50L (approx.) | INR 4.56-5.86L (approx.) |
G7* The G7 countries include advanced economies like Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Students often choose these countries as they have the best universities and vast research facilities.
Japan offers many scholarships from over 140 private organizations, universities, and local governments that are ready to provide funding opportunities to deserving students.
These scholarships cover various needs, from living expenses to full tuition and additional benefits like round-trip airfare as well. Out of the 140, we have explained to you about the two major scholarships below.
|
|
|
| INR 76K – INR 78K | Tuition exempted, Round-trip Airfare is given |
| INR 62K | |
| INR 1.60L |
Note: This scholarship is available to international students already in Japan under specific conditions.
|
|
|
| INR 16K | 1 year (April to March) or 6 months (October to March) |
| INR 25K |
Note: Known as the Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship, JASSO helps privately financed international students facing financial difficulties with excellent academic performance.
Now that you know all the ins and outs of everything related to pursuing your study in Japan, it is equally important to plan your budget and the perfect field of study for a successful career in the country, so get set to it accordingly. Cheers!
Start Preparing for IELTS: Get Your 10-Day Study Plan Today!
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Student Guide
Master’s degree students can work either on their MSc thesis or other research topics (further information: [email protected] ). Please note, your study right has to be valid through the entire internship. NII covers 5,700 JPY per day as sojourn expenses (about 35,11 €/day). Interns accepted for this call are encouraged to start March 1st, 2025. See guidelines and offered internship positions: https://www.nii.ac.jp/en/about/international/mouresearch/internship2024-2/index.html
Send your application with the attachments to Anita Bisi ( [email protected] ) by October 2, 2024 . (NII application form, CV, transcript of records, information about communication/correspondence with the NII supervisor/s)
Apply for exchange in september 2024, mind & study - toolbox for being well in studies (3cr) coming up.
Graduate students in the Department of Political Science, Trevor Incerti, Colin Moreshead, and Hikaru Yamagishi and Japan Foundation CGP Postdoctoral Associate in East Asian Studies, Charles T. McClean, were among a team of researchers who recently published an article with the Cambridge University Press on “ Field Research When There Is Limited Access to the Field: Lessons from Japan .”
How can scholars conduct field research when there is limited access to the field? This article first identifies how limited and uncertain field access can affect field research and then provides recommendations to address these challenges. We focus on conducting field research in Japan because of our substantive expertise, but we believe that the problems and solutions outlined in this article are applicable to a broad range of countries. Our hope is that this article contributes to the developing literature on conducting research during times of emergency and to the larger literature on best practices for field research.
The Times Higher Education Japan University Rankings 2023 are designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families when making one of the most important decisions of their lives – who to trust with their education.
The methodology includes 16 performance indicators, with three of the metrics drawing on the THE Japan Student Survey.
View the Japan University Rankings 2023 methodology
The ranking is led by Tohoku University for the fourth consecutive year, while International Christian University enters the top 10 for the first time (at number 10).
Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) now tops the resources pillar, pushing the University of Tokyo down to number two.
Kyoto University tops the outcomes pillar again, while International Christian University leads on engagement, and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) is the pacemaker for environment.
The 2023 ranking includes 271 universities. Pillar scores are provided only when the university is in the top 200 for that pillar, and those ranked between 150 and 200 are given a banded score.
The metric on international exchange programmes uses scores from the 2021 ranking because of the instability caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as explained here .
Read our analysis of the Japan University Rankings 2023 results
To raise your university’s global profile with THE , contact [email protected]
To unlock the data behind THE ’s rankings, and access a range of analytical and benchmarking tools, contact [email protected]
rank order | Rank | Name Country/Region | Node ID |
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Student insights.
Featured universities.
Graphs show temporal fluctuations of SMRPs of middle-school (A), high-school (B), and university (C) students and mean of SMRPs (D) from 2007 to 2022 in Japan. Statistical significance was set at P < .05 for trends of SMRPs detected by joinpoint regression analysis. In panel D, P values were calculated using linear mixed-effect model with Scheffe post hoc test.
a P < .05 vs middle-school students of same sex.
b P < .05 vs male students of same school group.
c P < .05 vs high-school students of same sex.
Graphs show fluctuations of SMRPs associated with school-related factors (A), underachievement (B), worrying about the future (C), and conflict with classmates (D). Statistical significance was set at P < .05 for trends of SMRPs detected by joinpoint regression analysis.
Graphs show fluctuations of SMRPs associated with health-related factors (A), depression (B), and other mental illness (C). Statistical significance was set at P < .05 for trends of SMRPs detected by joinpoint regression analysis.
Graphs show fluctuations of SMRPs associated with family-related factors (A), conflict with parents (B), and severe verbal reprimand (C). Statistical significance was set at P < .05 for trends of SMRPs detected by joinpoint regression analysis.
eAppendix. Supplemental Methods
eTable 1. SMRPs of Middle-School Students Disaggregated by Motives and Sex During 2007-2022
eTable 2. SMRPs of High-School Students Disaggregated by Motives and Sex During 2007-2022
eTable 3. SMRPs of University Students Disaggregated by Motives and Sex During 2007-2022
eFigure 1. Average of SMRPs Caused by Major 7 Categorized Motive and Impactable Subcategorized Motives of Students From 2007-2022
eTable 4. Summary of Joinpoint of SMRP Caused by Suicidal Motives, Sex and School From 2007-2022 Analyzed by Joinpoint Regression Analysis
eFigure 2. Age-Dependent Ratio of Prevalence of Mental Disorders Between 2017 and 2020
eReferences
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Okada M , Matsumoto R , Shiroyama T , Motomura E. Suicidal Mortality and Motives Among Middle-School, High-School, and University Students. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(8):e2328144. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28144
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Question What factors are associated with the increasing number of suicides among individuals younger than 30 years in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Findings In this cross-sectional study of 12 396 middle-school, high-school, and university students, from 2007 to 2022, suicide mortality rates have consistently increased since the late 2010s, with major associated factors including school-related, health-related, and family-related problems; however, the factors associated with suicide among students change according to their life stage (ie, life cycle).
Meaning These findings suggest that designing and implementing school-based suicide prevention programs that are effective for the specific vulnerabilities in psychological and social developmental stages of middle-school, high-school, and university students can contribute to suicide prevention for students.
Importance The suicide mortality rate per 100 000 population (SMRP) consistently decreased before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Japan and then unexpectedly increased during the pandemic. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Objective To identify trends in and factors associated with suicidal mortality and motives among students in Japan from 2007 to 2022.
Design, Setting, and Participants In this cross-sectional study, data on SMRPs among Japanese middle-school, high-school, and university students were obtained from the government suicide database Suicide Statistics of the National Police Agency.
Main Outcomes and Measures Age-dependent and temporal fluctuations in annual SMRPs, disaggregated by suicidal motive (7 categories and 52 subcategories), sex, and school, were analyzed using linear mixed-effect and joinpoint regression models, respectively.
Results Total suicide numbers from 2007 to 2022 were as follows: 760 male middle-school students, 635 female middle-school students, 2376 male high-school students, 1566 female high-school students, 5179 male university students, and 1880 female university students. The mean (SD) student populations from 2007 to 2022 were as follows: 1 752 737 (81 334) male middle-school students, 1 675 572 (78 824) female middle-school students, 1 648 274 (67 520) male high-school students, 1 614 828 (60 032) female high-school students, 1 652 689 (32 724) male university students, and 1 229 142 (57 484) female university students. Among male students, the leading motives were school-related factors (underachievement and worrying about the future), followed by family-related and health-related motives. Among female students, school-related and family-related motives decreased, but health-related motives showed an age-dependent increase. The SMRPs of middle-school male students and female students were almost equal (mean [SD], 2.7 [1.0] vs 2.4 [1.4]), but the age-dependent increase in SMRPs among male students was pronounced (mean [SD], high-school vs university male students, 9.1 [2.4] vs 19.6 [3.0]; high-school vs university female students, 6.1 [2.4] vs 9.6 [1.8]). However, the incidence of suicide among high-school students associated with health-related motives was greater in female students. The majority of suicides associated with major impactable suicidal motives (school-related, health-related, and family-related motives) began increasing before the pandemic. Changes in SMRP associated with interpersonal relationships, such as conflict with classmates or parents, were not significant, but the rates increased greatly during the pandemic.
Conclusions and Relevance School-related, health-related, and family-related problems were major motives, whereas the impacts of health-related and family-related motives increased and decreased with age, respectively. Notably, most SMRPs associated with major impactable motives (underachievement, conflict with a parent or classmate, and mental illnesses) had already begun increasing in the late 2010s, indicating that recent increasing SMRPs among school-aged individuals were associated with pandemic-related factors and other factors affecting this generation before the pandemic. It may be inappropriate to uniformly apply research findings based on school-aged individuals to school-based suicide prevention programs for students in middle school, high school, and university.
From 2009 to 2019, Japan’s governmental comprehensive regional suicide prevention programs 1 - 9 were associated with an approximately 30% decrease in the suicide mortality rate per 100 000 population (SMRP). The main frameworks of suicide prevention programs were enhancing regional (prefectural and municipal) welfare and social safety nets and protection systems, including personal and telephone and internet consultations, development of gatekeepers, enlightenment, and specific interventions. 3 - 5 However, the SMRP increased after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. 1 , 2 , 10 - 14
During the initial stage of the pandemic (2020-2021), the SMRP of working-age male individuals continuously decreased, but SMRPs for working-age female individuals and individuals younger than 30 years increased. 1 , 2 , 10 - 14 The SMRP was 2.5 times greater among male individuals vs female individuals during 2009 to 2019, 4 , 6 but the differential decreased to 2.0 in 2021, 10 , 12 , 13 indicating that the increase in SMRP during the pandemic was more pronounced among female individuals. Indeed, before the pandemic (2016-2019), the SMRPs were 2.5 among individuals younger than 20 years and 3.8 among those aged 20 to 29 years; during the pandemic (2020-2022), SMRPs were 17.2 among those younger than 20 years and 21.3 among those aged 20 to 29 years. 1 , 2 , 10 - 14 Therefore, the young generation (ie, individuals aged <30 years) is currently considered a high-risk group. 10 - 15 With the SMRPs of the young generation increasing, both the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare enhanced school mental health supporting systems and developed crisis line resources using the internet 16 , 17 ; however, the increasing trends in SMRPs in the young generation remain unsuppressed. 10 Thus, governmental suicide prevention programs could not decrease SMRPs in the young generation. 4 , 5 , 18 In addition, the mechanisms underlying the increased SMRPs and reasons why suicide prevention programs could not decrease SMRPs in the young generation should be elucidated.
Valid analyses of direct causality for increasing SMRPs in Japan are needed for evidence-based implementation of suicide prevention programs. 10 - 12 , 19 - 21 Schools have been considered to be the most effective organizations for modifying environmental and psychological factors associated with suicides via standardized suicide prevention programs. 19 , 22 , 23 The underlying mechanisms in adolescent suicides are complicated owing to their complex contexts, including specific physical, psychological, social, and educational developmental statuses. 24 Therefore, it might be inappropriate to uniformly apply findings obtained from research on adolescents to suicide prevention programs for middle-school, high-school, and university students. We investigated temporal fluctuations in SMRPs disaggregated by suicidal motive, sex, and school, as published in the government suicide database, Suicide Statistics of the National Police Agency (SSNPA). 25
This cross-sectional study adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology ( STROBE ) reporting guideline. The medical ethics review committee of Mie University waived requirements for informed consent and ethical approval because these are publicly available governmental data.
Annual suicide numbers disaggregated by motive, sex, and school in Japan from 2007 to 2022 were obtained from the SSNPA. 25 , 26 SSNPA provides annual suicide numbers in Japan disaggregated by various factors, including sex (male and female), school (middle school, high school, and university), and suicidal motives (7 categories: family, health, economic, employment, romance, school related, and other motives, with 52 subcategories) (eTables 1, 2, and 3 in Supplement 1 ). 8 , 16 , 18 , 25 - 29 The detailed methods of the investigation of suicidal motives are explained in the eAppendix in Supplement 1 . Annual student populations in middle school, high school, and university from 2007 to 2022 (denominator for SMRP derivation) were obtained from the School Basic Survey, a government database of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 30 SMRP was calculated by dividing the annual suicide numbers of the target group by the annual populations of the same target group in the same year (eg, the annual suicide number among male university students in 2020 was divided by the total number of male university students in 2020). SSNPA released annual suicide numbers for which motives were determined.
In this study, the trends, discontinuity, and their effect size of SMRPs of male and female middle-school, high-school, and university students from 2007 to 2022 were analyzed by joinpoint regression analysis (JPRA) using the Joinpoint Regression Program version 5.0.2 (National Cancer Institute). 10 , 12 , 31 , 32 The differences in SMRPs among sexes (male and female students) and schools (middle school, high school, and university) from 2007 to 2022 were compared using linear mixed-effect models with the Scheffe post hoc test using SPSS statistical software for Windows version 27 (IBM). 11 , 13 The detailed statistical methods are described in the eAppendix in Supplement 1 . Two-tailed P < .05 was considered statistically significant.
Total suicides from 2007 and 2022 reported in SSNPA were as follows: 760 male middle-school students, 635 female middle-school students, 2376 male high-school students, 1566 female high-school students, 5179 male university students, and 1880 female university students (eTables 1, 2, and 3 in Supplement 1 ). The mean (SD) student populations from 2007 to 2022 were as follows: 1 752 737 (81 334) male middle-school students, 1 675 572 (78 824) female middle-school students, 1 648 274 (67 520) male high-school students, 1 614 828 (60 032) female high-school students, 1 652 689 (32 724) male university students, and 1 229 142 (57 484) female university students. Considering that each student accounted for approximately 2% to 3% of the Japanese population (eTables 1, 2, and 3 in Supplement 1 ), the student SMRPs were smaller than the national-level SMRP. Student SMRPs of both sexes showed an age-dependent increase ( Figure 1 ). SMRPs of middle-school students were almost equal between male and female students (mean [SD], 2.7 [1.0] vs 2.4 [1.4]) but the age-dependent increase in SMRPs among male students was pronounced, and male high-school and university students showed higher SMRPs than female students (mean [SD], high-school vs university male students, 9.1 [2.4] vs 19.6 [3.0]; high-school vs university female students, 6.1 [2.4] vs 9.6 [1.8]) ( Figure 1 and eFigure 1A in Supplement 1 ).
SMRPs of middle-school students of both sexes consistently increased during 2007 to 2022, further increased in 2014 and 2021, and were detected as joinpoints by JPRA ( Figure 1 and eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ). SMRPs of high-school students of both sexes turned from unchanging to increasing in 2017. The female university student SMRP turned from decreasing to increasing in 2016, whereas that of male students consistently decreased from 2009 to 2021 but sharply (although nonsignificantly) increased in 2022, because JPRA cannot analyze slope between only 2 periods ( Figure 1 ).
Among male students, school-related factors were consistently the leading motive (372 middle-school students [49%], 1089 high-school students [46%], and 2193 university students [42%]) (eFigure 1A in Supplement 1 ). Among female middle-school students, school-related factors were also the leading motive (289 students [45%]). Impacts of school-related (493 students [32%]) and health-related (523 students [34%]) motives were almost equal in female high-school students, whereas health-related factors (725 students [39%]) were the leading motive among female university students, followed by school-related factors (eFigure 1A in Supplement 1 ). Impacts of other suicidal subcategories in school-related, health-related, and family-related motives on SMRPs are indicated in eFigure 1 in Supplement 1 .
Among school-related factors, underachievement was consistently the leading motive for suicide among male students, followed by worrying about the future and conflict with classmates (eFigure 1B in Supplement 1 ). Among female students, the rank-order of impacts of school-related motives transformed with age, shifting from conflict with classmates (77 students [26%]), underachievement (58 students [20%]), and worrying about the future (46 students [16%]) among middle-school students; to worrying about the future (126 students [25%]), conflict with classmates (103 students [21%]), and underachievement (92 students [19%]) among high-school students; and finally to worrying about the future (207 students [38%]), underachievement (174 students [32%]), and conflict with classmates (68 students [13%]) among university students (eFigure 1B in Supplement 1 ).
SMRPs associated with school-related motives among female middle-school and university students began increasing in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Those of male students changed from decreasing to increasing in 2020 ( Figure 2 and eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ). Those of male and female high-school students increased in 2016 and 2019, respectively.
Of note, SMRPs associated with conflict with classmate of female middle-school and high-school students were greater compared with male student in the late 2010s. Suicides among male and female university students associated with conflict with classmates increased greatly in 2022 ( Figure 2 ).
Among health-related motives, depression and other mental illnesses were leading factors associated with student SMRPs. Their impacts increased in an age-dependent manner (eFigure 1C in Supplement 1 ). SMRPs of female high-school students associated with health-related motives, including depression and other mental illness, were markedly higher than in male students ( Figure 3 and eFigure 1C and eFigure 2 in Supplement 1 ).
SMRPs associated with health-related factors among male and female middle-school students began increasing in 2020 and 2012, respectively ( Figure 3 ; eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ). SMRPs associated with health-related factors among male and female high-school students turned from decreasing to increasing in 2017, whereas those of male and female university students turned from decreasing to increasing in 2018 and 2015, respectively ( Figure 3 ). SMRPs associated with health-related factors, including depression and other mental illnesses, among female middle-school and high-school students were already larger than in male students in the late 2010s. SMRPs associated with depression and other mental illness among high-school female students displayed positive discontinuation synchronized with the COVID-19 outbreak ( Figure 3 ).
Among family-related factors, except for male middle-school students, conflict with parents was the leading factor associated with student SMRPs (153 male high-school students [42%], 118 male university students [31%], 85 female middle-school students [50%], 113 female high-school students [42%], and 53 female university students [34%]), followed by severe verbal reprimand (95 male high-school students [26%], 83 male university students [22%], 47 female middle-school students [28%], 58 female high-school students [22%], and 19 female university students [12%]), and conflict with other family members (21 male middle-school students [10%], 35 male high-school students [10%], 43 male university students [11%], 17 female middle-school students [10%], 43 female high-school students [16%], and 30 female university students [19%]) (eFigure 1D in Supplement 1 ). Severe verbal reprimand was the leading factor in male middle-school students (105 students [49%]), followed by conflict with parents (62 students [29%]) and conflict with other family members (21 students [10%]) (eFigure 1D in Supplement 1 ). Remarkably, SMRPs associated with other suicide motives increased in an age-dependent manner, whereas the age-dependent increase in SMRPs associated with family-related motives was indistinct; rather, their impact decreased in an age-dependent manner.
SMRPs associated with family-related motives of middle-school and high-school students increased in the early 2010s, but those of university students did not significantly change ( Figure 4 and eTable 4 in Supplement 1 ). SMRPs associated with conflict with parents in groups other than middle-school and university male students increased from the late 2010s, whereas those in middle-school and university male students showed large increases that were not statistically significant after the pandemic outbreak ( Figure 4 ). SMRPs associated with severe verbal reprimand of middle-school students of both sexes consistently increased from 2007 to 2022. SMRPs of high-school and university students showed no significant change, but a sharp increase was observed in male high-school students in 2022 ( Figure 4 ).
This cross-sectional study elucidated the sex-dependent and school-dependent specific features of SMRPs among students in Japan from 2007 to 2022. First, SMRPs increased with age from middle school to high school to university. SMRPs of male and female middle-school students were almost equal, but the age-dependent increase in SMRPs among male students was more pronounced than that among female students. Second, from 2007 to 2022, SMRPs among middle-school and high-school students of both sexes increased, but the majority of joinpoints of enhanced increasing trends (school-related, health-related, and family-related motives) were detected before the pandemic. SMRPs among female university students turned from decreasing to increasing in 2016; however, that of male students consistently decreased from 2009 to 2021, but then increased sharply in 2022. Similar increasing patterns (sharp increase) of SMRPs associated with subcategorized motives were predominantly observed among male students. These findings indicate a disproportionate increase in SMRPs among female students before the pandemic outbreak. 10 - 13 Third, generally, SMRPs for male students were larger than those for female students; however, the SMRPs associated with health-related factors, including depression and other mental illness, for middle-school and high-school female students were greater than those for male students. Furthermore, the SMRP associated with conflict with parent among middle-school female students was larger than that among male students. Accordingly, mental health impairment of female middle-school and high-school students plays an important role in their increased SMRPs. Regarding the increased SMRPs around the pandemic in Japan, it should be emphasized that they are exceptional in the global context. Thus far, most studies from other Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development countries have reported that SMRPs at the national level and in the young generation were decreasing or remained unchanged during the pandemic. 33 - 37
In the late 2010s, SMRPs associated with health-related factors, including depression and other mental illness, increased among female middle-school and high-school students compared with male students. Therefore, increasing internalization symptoms or disorders of female students may be an underlying factor associated with increasing SMRPs among female students. In the relevant literature, 38 the age of onset of internalization disorders was approximately 15 years; there was no sex difference in their prevalence during elementary school. During high school, the prevalence of internalization disorders was significantly higher in female than in male students. 39 , 40 Temporal fluctuation patterns between the prevalence of internalization disorders and increasing SMRPs associated with health-related factors are remarkably consistent. Furthermore, the Patient Survey of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in female students aged 10 to 24 years in 2020 increased compared with that in 2017 (eFigure 2 in Supplement 1 ). 41 Internalization symptoms are established suicidal risks. 42 - 44 Anxiety plays important roles in the transition from suicidal ideation to suicidal behaviors 43 and is a factor associated with lifetime risk of suicidal ideation and behaviors. 44 Retrospective studies in which families were interviewed reported the presence of psychiatric disorders in 90% of individuals who died by suicide. 45 Students perceive increasing their internalization symptoms at the transition from middle school to high school, with larger impacts on female than male students, who are focusing on future academic and career options with age. 46 , 47 Therefore, the peculiar mentality of high-school students probably contributes to increasing SMRPs associated with health-related and school-related factors and the pronounced increase in SMRPs in female students in the late 2010s. In addition, the stress factors associated with the pandemic, 48 including the psychological burden of the pandemic itself and poor adaptation to school closures or changing educational opportunities, might adversely affect the mental health and resilience of high-school female students, resulting in increases in their SMRPs associated with depression, other mental health issues, and worrying about the future.
However, suicides, including suicidal ideation and behavior, are rarely explained by a single factor, and most contemporary theories of suicide emphasize interactions among several biological, environmental, social, and/or psychological factors. 19 , 49 Accordingly, adding the increasing SMRP associated with internalization symptoms and disorders to increasing SMRPs associated with school-related (underachievement and worrying about the future) and family-related (conflict with parent and severe verbal reprimand) motives can reveal a part of the complicated interactions behind increasing SMRPs among students.
Recently, perfectionism, whereby parents, educators, and students themselves highly expect to perform well in school, has become widespread in Western and East Asian countries, since good educational achievement is thought to lead to good life outcomes, including well-being, physical and mental health, and occupational status. 50 To achieve good educational performance, parents tend to adopt attitudes with low levels of emotion and high levels of parental control or overprotection, called affectionless control . 50 Both affectionless control and excessive schoolwork pressure have been established as factors associated with increased risks of internalizing symptoms and disorders, self-negative affect, and suicide among students and adolescents. 47 , 51 - 54 In Europe, male and female students perceive increased schoolwork pressure with age; however, this pressure increases more for female students. 47 During elementary school, female students report experiencing less pressure than male students, but the reverse is true during middle school and high school. 47 Therefore, in Japan, the negative vicious cycle among affectionless control, perfectionism, and mental health impairment has also probably developed as a social and educational problems, similar to that in Western countries. 50 - 54 Furthermore, the consistently increasing SMRPs among middle-school male students associated with severe verbal reprimands and underachievement, as well as that among high-school students associated with conflict with parent, underachievement, and worrying about the future, suggest the possibility that both affectionless control and excessive schoolwork pressure might also contribute to the increasing SMRPs among these male students. Therefore, the long-term increasing trends in the SMRPs of male and female students in Japan are consistent with worldwide trends. 20 , 21
Governmental comprehensive suicide prevention programs via schools and communities have implemented enhanced support for students and children who have been bullied and abused. Considering the 8-fold increase in the incidence of bullying and abuse in Japan from 2007 to 2021, 55 governmental comprehensive suicide prevention programs may have contributed to preventing SMRPs associated with bullying and abuse, since SMRPs associated with abuse and bullying did not increase from 2007 to 2022. However, governmental comprehensive suicide prevention programs have not listed addressing internalization symptoms or disorders, affectionless control, or excessive schoolwork pressure as priorities. 16 Suppressive control of excessive schoolwork pressure and affectionless control may help to prevent suicides associated with family-related, school-related, and health-related factors among students. However, controlling internalization disorders and symptoms through interventions to prevent affectionless control or excessive schoolwork pressure may potentially violate the basic dignity of individuals and lead to unanticipated adverse reactions to the individual’s psychosocial development. 56 Therefore, even if an effective prevention method is established, its implementation requires sufficient discussion.
Interpersonal relationships at school and in one’s family play important roles in the mental state of individuals as both risk and protective factors for suicide, 19 , 22 and the impacts of these relationships transform both quantitatively and qualitatively with age. 19 , 22 , 57 In this study, the impactable suicidal motives associated with interpersonal relationships were conflict with parents or classmates and severe verbal reprimands. Impacts of conflict with parents and severe verbal reprimands on the SMRP decreased at the transition from high school to university, whereas those of conflict with classmate increased from middle school to high school. During adolescence, individuals ordinarily decrease their time with parents and establish complicated relationships with peers by increasing their time with peers. 58 Therefore, long-term or frequent school closures may disrupt the psychosocial development of students via interpersonal relationships. 59 Indeed, in a recent study, 60 43% of students said their lives were worse, 30% said they were unchanged, and 28% said they were better during school closures; however, 15% said they were worried, 22% said they were indifferent, and 64% said they were looking forward to seeing classmates and peers again after lockdown lifted. These findings suggest that social restriction, including school closures during the pandemic, had not affected all students in the same way. Increasing time spent with parents because of school closures can easily be understood as a factor associated with increased risk of suicide among students with poor-quality relationships with their parents. Conversely, the absence of face-to-face interaction during school closure could actually be protective (at least in the short term) for students with poor-quality peer relationships or internalization symptoms. Therefore, the increasing SMRPs associated with conflict with classmate among male high-school students and university students of both sexes in 2022 indicates the possibility that the establishment of interpersonal relationships owing to resuming school attendance or normalization of the class format may be more burdensome for some students with internalization or poor-quality relationships. Further studies to explore this hypothesis may provide useful information for improving suicide prevention programs in schools.
This study has several limitations. Because it is impossible to collect suicide motives directly from the decedents, the suicide numbers disaggregated by suicidal motives in the SSNPA may be incorrectly estimated owing to a potential bias. However, to eliminate subjectivity as much as possible, the police investigate suicide motives based on evidence, suicide notes, official documentation (eg, medical certificates and clinical recordings), and testimony from the decedent’s family.
Although motive-unidentified suicides were homogeneous among schools and between sexes, motive-unidentified suicides might be biased toward overestimating or underestimating the results of the analysis. Despite these limitations, the SSNPA is evaluated as the most reliable governmental suicide database in Japan, since data were collected by the National Police Agency using consistent investigational methods from 2007 to 2022.
The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest the importance of interaction among affectionless control, excessive schoolwork pressure, and increasing prevalence of internalization symptoms for understanding the basis for increasing student SMRPs during the late 2010s and the pandemic in Japan. The suicidal motives of students transform with advancing psychosocial developmental stages (eg, family-related motives decrease, and school-related and health-related motives increase with age). These complicated interactions among suicidal motives probably play important roles in the recent fluctuation of SMRPs in 2 increasing phases, a long-lasting increase from the late 2010s and synchronization with the pandemic outbreak. Therefore, rather than uniformly applying adolescent-based research results to school-based suicide prevention programs for middle-school, high-school, and university students, it can contribute to effective suicide prevention of students to design and implement programs that are tailored vulnerabilities of each developmental stage.
Accepted for Publication: June 30, 2023.
Published: August 7, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28144
Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License . © 2023 Okada M et al. JAMA Network Open .
Corresponding Author: Motohiro Okada, MD, PhD, Division of Neuroscience, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Tsu 514-8507, Japan ( [email protected] ).
Author Contributions: Dr Okada had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Concept and design: All authors.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Okada, Matsumoto, Motomura.
Drafting of the manuscript: All authors.
Critical review of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Okada, Matsumoto, Shiroyama.
Statistical analysis: Okada, Matsumoto, Motomura.
Obtained funding: Okada, Matsumoto.
Administrative, technical, or material support: Okada, Shiroyama.
Supervision: Okada.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.
Funding/Support: This study is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant 23K06987 to Drs Okada and Matsumoto) and Regional Suicide Countermeasures Emergency Enhancement Fund of Mie Prefecture (grant 2023-40 to Dr Okada).
Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .
Additional Contributions: We thank Japan Medical Communication ( https://www.japan-mc.co.jp ) for English language editing.
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Low-calorie diets and intermittent fasting have been shown to have numerous health benefits: They can delay the onset of some age-related diseases and lengthen lifespan, not only in humans but many other organisms.
Many complex mechanisms underlie this phenomenon. Previous work from MIT has shown that one way fasting exerts its beneficial effects is by boosting the regenerative abilities of intestinal stem cells, which helps the intestine recover from injuries or inflammation.
In a study of mice, MIT researchers have now identified the pathway that enables this enhanced regeneration, which is activated once the mice begin “refeeding” after the fast. They also found a downside to this regeneration: When cancerous mutations occurred during the regenerative period, the mice were more likely to develop early-stage intestinal tumors.
“Having more stem cell activity is good for regeneration, but too much of a good thing over time can have less favorable consequences,” says Omer Yilmaz, an MIT associate professor of biology, a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the senior author of the new study.
Yilmaz adds that further studies are needed before forming any conclusion as to whether fasting has a similar effect in humans.
“We still have a lot to learn, but it is interesting that being in either the state of fasting or refeeding when exposure to mutagen occurs can have a profound impact on the likelihood of developing a cancer in these well-defined mouse models,” he says.
MIT postdocs Shinya Imada and Saleh Khawaled are the lead authors of the paper, which appears today in Nature .
Driving regeneration
For several years, Yilmaz’s lab has been investigating how fasting and low-calorie diets affect intestinal health. In a 2018 study , his team reported that during a fast, intestinal stem cells begin to use lipids as an energy source, instead of carbohydrates. They also showed that fasting led to a significant boost in stem cells’ regenerative ability.
However, unanswered questions remained: How does fasting trigger this boost in regenerative ability, and when does the regeneration begin?
“Since that paper, we’ve really been focused on understanding what is it about fasting that drives regeneration,” Yilmaz says. “Is it fasting itself that’s driving regeneration, or eating after the fast?”
In their new study, the researchers found that stem cell regeneration is suppressed during fasting but then surges during the refeeding period. The researchers followed three groups of mice — one that fasted for 24 hours, another one that fasted for 24 hours and then was allowed to eat whatever they wanted during a 24-hour refeeding period, and a control group that ate whatever they wanted throughout the experiment.
The researchers analyzed intestinal stem cells’ ability to proliferate at different time points and found that the stem cells showed the highest levels of proliferation at the end of the 24-hour refeeding period. These cells were also more proliferative than intestinal stem cells from mice that had not fasted at all.
“We think that fasting and refeeding represent two distinct states,” Imada says. “In the fasted state, the ability of cells to use lipids and fatty acids as an energy source enables them to survive when nutrients are low. And then it’s the postfast refeeding state that really drives the regeneration. When nutrients become available, these stem cells and progenitor cells activate programs that enable them to build cellular mass and repopulate the intestinal lining.”
Further studies revealed that these cells activate a cellular signaling pathway known as mTOR, which is involved in cell growth and metabolism. One of mTOR’s roles is to regulate the translation of messenger RNA into protein, so when it’s activated, cells produce more protein. This protein synthesis is essential for stem cells to proliferate.
The researchers showed that mTOR activation in these stem cells also led to production of large quantities of polyamines — small molecules that help cells to grow and divide.
“In the refed state, you’ve got more proliferation, and you need to build cellular mass. That requires more protein, to build new cells, and those stem cells go on to build more differentiated cells or specialized intestinal cell types that line the intestine,” Khawaled says.
Too much of a good thing
The researchers also found that when stem cells are in this highly regenerative state, they are more prone to become cancerous. Intestinal stem cells are among the most actively dividing cells in the body, as they help the lining of the intestine completely turn over every five to 10 days. Because they divide so frequently, these stem cells are the most common source of precancerous cells in the intestine.
In this study, the researchers discovered that if they turned on a cancer-causing gene in the mice during the refeeding stage, they were much more likely to develop precancerous polyps than if the gene was turned on during the fasting state. Cancer-linked mutations that occurred during the refeeding state were also much more likely to produce polyps than mutations that occurred in mice that did not undergo the cycle of fasting and refeeding.
“I want to emphasize that this was all done in mice, using very well-defined cancer mutations. In humans it’s going to be a much more complex state,” Yilmaz says. “But it does lead us to the following notion: Fasting is very healthy, but if you’re unlucky and you’re refeeding after a fasting, and you get exposed to a mutagen, like a charred steak or something, you might actually be increasing your chances of developing a lesion that can go on to give rise to cancer.”
Yilmaz also noted that the regenerative benefits of fasting could be significant for people who undergo radiation treatment, which can damage the intestinal lining, or other types of intestinal injury. His lab is now studying whether polyamine supplements could help to stimulate this kind of regeneration, without the need to fast.
“This fascinating study provides insights into the complex interplay between food consumption, stem cell biology, and cancer risk,” says Ophir Klein, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, who was not involved in the study. “Their work lays a foundation for testing polyamines as compounds that may augment intestinal repair after injuries, and it suggests that careful consideration is needed when planning diet-based strategies for regeneration to avoid increasing cancer risk.”
The research was funded, in part, by Pew-Stewart Scholars Program for Cancer Research award, the MIT Stem Cell Initiative, the Koch Institute Frontier Research Program via the Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund, and the Bridge Project, a partnership between the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
Press mentions, medical news today.
A new study led by researchers at MIT suggests that fasting and then refeeding stimulates cell regeneration in the intestines, reports Katharine Lang for Medical News Today . However, notes Lang, researchers also found that fasting “carries the risk of stimulating the formation of intestinal tumors.”
MIT researchers have discovered how fasting impacts the regenerative abilities of intestinal stem cells, reports Ed Cara for Gizmodo . “The major finding of our current study is that refeeding after fasting is a distinct state from fasting itself,” explain Prof. Ömer Yilmaz and postdocs Shinya Imada and Saleh Khawaled. “Post-fasting refeeding augments the ability of intestinal stem cells to, for example, repair the intestine after injury.”
Prof. Ömer Yilmaz and his colleagues have discovered the potential health benefits and consequences of fasting, reports Max Kozlov for Nature . “There is so much emphasis on fasting and how long to be fasting that we’ve kind of overlooked this whole other side of the equation: what is going on in the refed state,” says Yilmaz.
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Two undergraduates conducting research this summer gathering data from patients for a study by penn medicine physician beth leong pineles..
Restrictions on physical activity and even complete bedrest are frequently prescribed for pregnant patients by doctors or suggested by others to prevent preterm birth, even though both practices have been proven ineffective and in some cases even harmful.
Beth Leong Pineles , a maternal-medicine doctor at Pennsylvania Hospital and an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine , is conducting a study of activity restriction during pregnancy with the goal of “deimplementation” in the Penn Medicine system and ultimately nationwide. The long-term goal is to use exercise as a tool to reduce preterm birth and improve the overall health of pregnant women.
Penn undergraduates Ellie Mayers and Gladys Smith were involved in the first stage of the study's research with Pineles during the summer. The goal is to determine the prevalence of bedrest and activity restriction, starting with the patient population at Penn Med, through an in-person survey of pregnant patients.
Smith, a second-year from Williamsburg, Virginia, is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences who plans to go to medical school. Mayers, a third-year from Beachwood, Ohio, is in the School of Nursing with plans to become a midwife and is also pursuing a minor in the history of health and humanities, a collaboration between Nursing and the College.
The research opportunity, which provides a $5,000 award for each student, is through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program , a 10-week summer program supported by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF).
Mayers and Smith were assigned to work at Penn Maternal Fetal Medicine Washington Square and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. They read patient charts to determine who was considered at high risk for preterm labor, including those who previously delivered preterm, are pregnant with more than one baby, have certain conditions affecting their cervix, or who have had preterm contractions.
They then asked those patients to complete the survey. For the best response rate, face-to-face is better than phone calls, texts, or emails, Pineles says, noting that her goal is to get at least 300 survey responses. “It’s a better experience for the students. It’s more engaging. They like to talk to the patients and be involved in the clinic, and they get some exposure to medicine,” she says. “And they’re helping. They’re doing a great job getting a lot of survey responses.”
Mayers and Smith are planning to continue the research next semester and into the future, invited by Pineles to stay with the project. Pineles says she expects the entire deimplementation project to take about three more years.
“There’s a wealth of data that we can look at in a multitude of different ways,” Pineles says. “So, if Ellie and Gladys want to continue to be involved, that would be great. We can continue to work together, answer new questions, and publish more papers.”
Mayers says she’s seen a “different view of health care” doing research versus clinical work as a nursing student. “It’s been super interesting to see a snapshot of time when the ultimate goal of the research is to solve these problems,” informing actions “that nurses and doctors are going to implement,” she says. “And I love science. I love talking to people. I'm very social, and I just want to help people. I feel like that all culminated in my interest in nursing.”
Smith says asking the research questions and being in the clinic has steered her towards pursuing a “more social science-based way of thinking regarding medicine.” She says working with Pineles “has cemented my desire to go to medical school. Being in the clinic with her has made it seem more immediate and achievable.”
The survey asks patients to describe their high-risk conditions, what advice they were given about physical activity during their pregnancy, and who gave that advice, among other questions about their health. “We don't know what women are being told. We don't know who's telling them. And I think it’s important to know that if we're going tackle the problem and understand it better,” Pineles says.
Physical activity restriction can include limits on walking, working, sexual activity, exercising. Bedrest can mean the patient doesn’t even get up to go to the bathroom. Some negative complications can include muscle atrophy, deep vein thrombosis, mental and emotional stress, boredom and loss of social connections, and potential financial losses.
Studies have shown that pregnant women who were given activity restrictions “actually had worse outcomes in their pregnancy and were more likely to deliver prematurely,” Pineles says. “We really don't see any benefit of activity restriction. We have several national guidelines about exercise and physical activity and pregnancy, and all recommend against bedrest and recommend against routine activity restriction.”
Pineles is deploying her study survey nationally “to get a national prevalence of activity restriction during pregnancy, which has not been done,” she says. They received the expected 1,500 responses on the national survey, distributed by a marketing service through social media, she says.
Mayers and Smith used the national survey data for the research posters they will present at the CURF Research Expo on Sept. 16, and for abstracts they each submitted to the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine national conference.
Mayers says she wanted to be a nurse as long as she can remember, coming from a long line of nurses, including her grandmother and great-grandmothers. Also, Mayers spent much of her early years in hospitals surrounded by medical professionals because her younger sister needed treatment as an infant. “Doctors are amazing, but it was always nurses that were with my family constantly and are the ones that I really have memories of,” Mayers says, adding that her sister will be a first-year at Penn this fall.
Mayers says she previously wasn’t interested in research, but at Penn she learned about various possibilities, including a Ph.D. in nursing. “I've been lucky in that the Nursing School has prepared me really well to do a lot of aspects of this research. I am very comfortable interacting with patients in a variety of ways,” Mayers says, noting that she was on an OB/GYN rotation last semester. “I was quick in understanding different conditions and in understanding how to read the chart and look at the overall patient profile.”
Specifically, Mayers says she is interested in reproductive health, both the clinical and political aspects. She’s the co-president of Penn’s chapter of Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health and also is a member of Penn Hillel and the Kite and Key Society . Ultimately Mayers says she wants a career as a midwife or a women's health nurse practitioner.
The research is interesting to Smith because she may want to pursue OB/GYN in her medical career. She once visited her mother’s friend when she was pregnant on bed rest, who lost her baby shortly thereafter. “That specific memory was jarring to me and is what made me particularly interested in this research opportunity,” Smith says, “because every mom is trying their hardest to maximize the chances that their baby will be healthy.”
She also wanted a summer experience that would allow her to directly interact with patients, seeking a position in which she could “understand what providers are doing, actually get to see the influence of the research being done.”
Smith also works at the Center for Autism Research at the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia .
Smith says that conducting the patient survey was “extremely daunting” initially; she worried that the way she was speaking with the patients was inhibiting them from participating, and so she adjusted her script and her approach throughout the summer.
“Ellie is outspoken and very comfortable working with patients. Using her as a role model during the first few weeks was really helpful because I could model my attitude and my body language to be more like hers,” Smith says.
Pineles started her own research when she was an undergraduate at University of California, Irvine, so she wanted to provide the opportunity for Penn undergraduates. Mayers and Smith are the first undergraduate research assistants she has recruited since joining Penn Medicine two years ago from University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Pineles was at the University of Maryland for residency and the University of Southern California for her M.D. and Ph.D.
“The young students are so eager and interested, and it's a good way to get them involved and get started on something of their own,” Pineles says. “I always ask them to come up with their own project. What question can you ask with the data that we have that seems interesting? What do you want to know?”
Mayers’ project is focused on who is giving the advice and how likely it is that patients will follow the advice depending on who is giving it. “Are we seeing a statistical difference in the wellbeing of the patient if it's a health care professional who prescribed it or if it's someone else?” Mayers says.
Smith’s project is looking into health equity, specifically regarding variance between different racial and ethnic groups’ agreement with and adherence to their prescribed activity recommendations. “My question is also social science-based,” Smith says. “I’m curious as to why these disparities might exist and how we might go about eliminating them.”
Both Mayers and Smith also have shadowed Pineles during her workday in the hospital, which has had an impact on them both. “I can’t imagine a more formative experience after my freshman year of college,” Smith says. “I've learned so much, especially shadowing and actually seeing patients in Labor and Delivery,” Smith says.
Mayers says that Pineles has been a “really excellent mentor” as an attending physician at Penn Med. “That's a connection that I hope I’m going to have for a really long time, and I hope to continue to build on,” Mayers says, “She’s someone that when I enter the workforce will look out for me and already is providing me with professional development opportunities.”
Penn Medicine has treated more than 10,000 cancer patients at three proton therapy centers across the region, including the largest and busiest center in the world—while also leading the way in research to expand the healing potential of these positive particles.
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The University celebrated graduating students on Monday during the 268th Commencement.
An iconic tradition at Penn, third-year students were promoted to senior status.
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Hundreds of undergraduates take classes in the fine arts each semester, among them painting and drawing, ceramics and sculpture, printmaking and animation, photography and videography. The courses, through the School of Arts & Sciences and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an art form in a collaborative way.
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International research students belong to a special category for those who wish to engage in research activities in specialized fields at a University of Tokyo Graduate School. No degrees or qualifications are awarded to postgraduate research students after the completion of a research term. Qualified applicants are non-Japanese nationals who ...
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A There is a scholarship called the "Support Fund for International Students' awarded by The University of Tokyo Foundation, to which International Research Students are also eligible to apply. The stipend is 50,000 yen per month, and given for one year from April or for six months from October. Typically, one student (selected from Master's Course, Doctoral Course, and International Research ...
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Research Student Scholarships offer college graduates and graduate students the opportunity to study and research a specific field at a Japanese university. To apply, applicants must: Hold U.S. citizenship Be born on or after April 2, 1989. Satisfy the qualification requirements for admission to a master's degree course or a doctoral degree ...
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(RESEARCH STUDENTS) The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan offers scholarships to international students who wish to study in graduate courses at Japanese universities as Research Students (either regular students or non-regular students) under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program as ...
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The purpose of the research student period is to help you got accustomed to Japan by learning the language, and study for passing the entrance examination to the graduate school. The difficulty of entrance examination varies greatly by university and programs. Research student period may last from 6 months to 1 year, depends on the university.
Research Student in Japan. Hello, I am a current undergraduate student planning to graduate May 2024. I am planning to pursue a one year master's program after graduation at the same university I currently attend. I found out that it's possible to take one semester off of study, and I have always wanted to pursue study abroad in Japan for some ...
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Aalto's Master and PhD students can apply for a 2-6-month internship at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan. Master's degree students can work either on their MSc thesis or other research topics (further information: [email protected]). Please note, your study right has to be ...
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Two students are conducting research with Beth Leong Pineles of Penn Medicine (not pictured) to study activity restriction for pregnant patients, supported by a Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship grant. Ellie Mayers (left) is a third-year in the School of Nursing. Gladys Smith (right) is a second-year in the College of Arts and Sciences.
(RESEARCH STUDENTS) The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan offers scholarships to international students who wish to study in graduate courses at Japanese universities as Research Students (either regular students or non-regular students) under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program as ...