Nearly two-thirds of faculty at Hokkaido University have considered moving to another university or research institution because the conditions for teaching and research have deteriorated, according to a survey by the university's faculty and staff union. The union published its report on the survey on Oct. 27.
The union said it launched the survey out of concern that continued cuts to the operating grants that fund national universities, together with soaring utility costs, are seriously affecting education and research. Cuts to the money allocated to individual academics have become routine and are now causing direct disruption, it said.
Utility costs and shrinking budgets
The survey ran from December 2025 to January 2026. The union sent it to faculty whose contact details it holds, and 399 people responded. By field, 19.5% were in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, 13.1% in social sciences, 12.8% in agriculture and environmental science, 12.1% in engineering and information science, 10.8% in mathematics and physics, and 10.3% in biological sciences.
Asked about the funding allocated to them personally, 39.2% said it had been reduced somewhat and 32.4% said it had been cut substantially. On whether rising utility costs had affected how money is allocated for teaching and research, 65.2% said it had.
The activities most affected by the cuts were skipping conferences and research exchanges in Japan and abroad, cited by 18.6%, followed by holding back on buying teaching materials and resources for students at 16.8%. Delays in replacing aging equipment such as laboratory instruments and computers came next at 16.2%, and difficulty covering article submission fees at 14.7%.
Asked whether the loss of research freedom was affecting the continuity of their work over the medium and long term, 64.1% said they felt this strongly and 26.8% said they felt it somewhat, meaning more than 90% reported an impact.
Departures already in preparation
On whether they had ever considered moving to another university or institution because of the worsening environment at Hokkaido University, 64.3% said they had. Of those, 39.5% had considered it somewhat, 17% had considered it strongly, and 7.8% were already making concrete preparations to leave.
The survey's free-response section drew a run of harsh comments, including criticism of the government's policy of selecting fields for investment, known in Japan as "select and concentrate." Many respondents also attacked the government's research policy, with some calling it "a road to ruining the country."
The full report also covers the free-response comments in more detail; the published article is truncated at that point.