“There was a silent understanding (to accept more male students) as one way to resolve the doctor shortage.”

The South China Morning Post also reported a source told Yomiuri Shimbun that “There is a consensus inside the university that male doctors support the university hospital.”

Although the number of doctors in Japan has increased slightly in recent years, a shortage of doctors has plagued the country for decades. The university is already under investigation after allegations that its former board chairman and former president improved the entrance exam score of a former high-ranking education ministry official in exchange for preferential treatment in a subsidy programme, The Yomiuri Shimbun reports. The source also said that there was a widely held belief in the surgical department that “it takes three women to serve as one man.”

Following a major increase in successful female applicants—40 percent in 2010—the school began its systemic reduction of women’s exam scores, according to reports in Japanese media.
Yomiuri Shimbun reports Tokyo Medical University altered entrance examination scores to decrease the number of women attending the school.