Japan’s universities are entering a difficult period. As the birthrate falls, so does the number of university-aged students. In the years leading up to 2040, many universities are expected to reduce enrollment, reorganise departments, merge with other institutions, or close altogether. Government estimates suggest that nearly one-third of Japan’s private universities could face serious financial difficulties.
These are real challenges – but universities should not address them by cutting workers’ incomes.
Too often, the first response to declining enrollment or departmental reorganization is to reduce the classes assigned to part-time teachers. A teacher may lose only one or two koma at first, but each reduction means a direct loss of income. Over time, repeated cuts can turn what once appeared to be stable employment into a job that no longer provides a sustainable living.
The university still expects the same professionalism, experience, preparation, and flexibility. The teacher is simply expected to provide it for less money.
Last year, a teacher at Sugamo School filed a lawsuit after their teaching load was reduced from 14 classes to just four. The case reflects a problem the General Union has warned about for years: when schools and universities face financial or operational difficulties, they often transfer the consequences directly onto part-time teachers.
Sugamo is not an isolated case. General Union members at universities across Japan have faced similar reductions. At Osaka Metropolitan University, for example, members repeatedly lost teaching assignments, often “just one koma” at a time. Administrators may describe an individual reduction as minor, but the cumulative effect can amount to a substantial loss of annual income.
As the university sector contracts, we expect these problems to become more common. Declining enrollment may require universities to reorganize courses and staffing, but it does not justify placing the financial consequences entirely on their most vulnerable employees.
Universities have other options. They can reconsider workloads, administrative costs, budget priorities, and compensation systems. If fewer classes are available, they should discuss how teachers’ overall income can be protected rather than treating an immediate pay cut as the automatic solution.
Reducing a teacher’s income is not an inevitable result of demographic change. It is a management decision—and it can be challenged.
The General Union is doing exactly that.
Through collective bargaining, we are pressing universities to maintain teaching loads and protect members’ overall compensation. Where a reduction cannot be avoided, universities should negotiate with workers and the union rather than simply announcing that classes have disappeared.
We are also supporting legal action where appropriate. The Sugamo case challenges the idea that a school can drastically reduce the work and income of an unlimited-term employee while claiming that the employment relationship itself continues unchanged. Members facing similar treatment at other institutions are also considering their legal options.
Our Hands Off Our Koma campaign aims to stop class reductions before they happen. By organizing workers across universities, gathering information about proposed cuts, and raising demands early, we can challenge the assumption that part-time teachers are disposable whenever budgets tighten or departments reorganize.
Unlimited-term contracts are an important part of that protection. They make it harder for an employer to end a worker’s employment through simple non-renewal. But meaningful job stability requires more than keeping someone formally employed while gradually reducing their classes and income. A contract without an end date offers little security if the job itself is being hollowed out.
That is why workers need to act before cuts become established practice. A university may describe a reduction as temporary, minor, or unavoidable, but every accepted cut makes the next one easier.
Japan’s universities will need to adapt to demographic change. That adaptation must include protecting the people who do the teaching—not steadily hollowing out their jobs one koma at a time.