Foreign student exodus / At least 4,330 have left due to quake, nuclear fears

[AsahinaKimi]

Foreign students and other members of Kyushu University's international community attend a seminar Monday at the university in Higashi Ward, Fukuoka, on last month's disaster and the ongoing nuclear crisis.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The massive March 11 earthquake and radiation leaks at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have scared away at least 4,330 foreign students who were enrolled at 71 universities in Japan, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

This figure includes students who have left Japan earlier than scheduled, as well as those who canceled visits to this country for admission to colleges and universities here. The affected universities are not only in the disaster-hit region but also in the Tokyo metropolitan area and western Japan. The Yomiuri survey covered 71 universities with a sizable foreign student roll.

Sophia University is one such university.

"It seems students have been told by their parents not to go to Japan, although they want to do so," said Yumiko Iizuka, chief of the Overseas Liaison Center's secretariat at Sophia University, where about 10 percent of all students are from other countries. The center's inquiry counter for exchange students has been largely deserted since the disaster struck.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110420005974.htm

[SoCalDem]

1. I would want my sons to come home.. There is just too much uncertaunty for this Mom.

The way the government/media has handled this whole incident does not instill confidence in me that they know what's going on..what;s safe and what's not.

Young people feel invincible, but something they come into contact now, could devastate them years from now..

[malaise]

2. I know one who is home and her mom does not want

her to return. She had just begun her PhD program.