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The recent rise in energy prices has increased the burden on the public, and Japan is in a similar situation. In Japan, universities in particular have disposed of their pianos for practice or suspended computer operations in order to save on school operating costs.

Park Sang-jin is a correspondent in Tokyo.

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Tokyo University of the Arts, which has a history of more than
130 years, recently sold five pianos for student practice.

The university owns more than 5 pianos, which cost about 300 million won per year.

If five pianos are disposed of, the combined cost of used pianos and the savings on management costs are about 1.6 million won, but when the cost of running the school soared due to the recent increase in electricity bills, they squeezed out a plan to save a penny.

[Tokyo Preparatory University student: I wonder if the piano is gone, and I wonder if there was anything else to dispose of.

As energy prices soared after the war in Ukraine, Japan's average electricity bill rose 5.540% and gas bill 3% last month compared to a year ago.

In particular, the larger the building and the more facilities the university, the more pressure it is, so Nagoya University decided to temporarily suspend the supercomputer that uses a lot of electricity, and Osaka University has shortened the operation of the campus library since December last year.

In some places, student meeting rooms have been closed or notices have been posted on campus asking for power savings.

The government also stepped in, setting up an additional 1 billion won in university subsidies for the increase in electricity bills.

[Nagaoka/Japan Ministry of Education: Basically, this is an issue that the university will respond to with its own efforts, but we are thinking of reviewing the necessary support depending on the situation.]

Some are worried that the increase in electricity tariffs will lead to poor university research and practical training, leading to a decrease in national competitiveness.

(Video Interview: Moon Hyun-jin)