international student on 50,000 yen budget

Is 50,000 yen enough to cover living expenses for an international student (taking up PhD) in Obihiro Japan?I would appreciate it if a breakdown of regular and unexpected expenses is included in your answers

No.

I think that's workable as a weekly budget, but you won't have a lot of luxuries.

In 1998 I was on a 120,000 yen a month scholarship studying in a fairly 'inaka' region renting a room in a private, but very old student style place (shared toilet/shower) which was very cheap. I was still struggling and had to make extra income from English tutoring.
So, as Umami said, 50,000 per week Ok, per month, no.

Is that so? How come MEXT scholarships provide 150,000 yen/month? I understand working part time is prohibited. Of course I will still have a monthly salary from teaching (once I am on study leave) from my university which amounts to only 30,000 yen. Any advise/tips on how I can make ends meet? I hope somebody who had the same situation can answer. thanks

If your school provides dormitory which costs no more than 10000 including all the extra cleaning fees etc (mine is 6500/month + 30000 fee/year, which makes it 95000/10 months), excluding energy fees (about 5000 if you don't waste at all and don't use the air conditioner), then you may manage with about 80000/month if you don't travel around, commute to school on a bicycle, cook yourself, and manage your expenses. That's my approximate budget in Tochigi.

Who gives their budget per week? That would be silly, many things are paid monthly...

I was on an AIEJ scholarship back then and they paid for airfares as well. I was allowed to work a certain amount of hours per month (can't remember how much), but that was 17 years ago (OMG!) so rules change with governments.

A fellow student was on a 250,000 yen a month Monbushu scholarship - I was quite envious.

Don't know the cost of living in japan now, but from what Boukyakujin has said, it hasn't changed much. Sounds very similar to what it cost me too.

I think you should be fine on 150,00 per month.

Good luck with it.

I'm currently studying a bachelor degree under MEXT scholarship at Tokyo. As my experience living and studying in Japan may tell you (currently junior student), it all comes to where are you living at.
For example living in Tokyo with 50,000 yen budget is impossible. Private rent for an student apartment is about 50,000 monthly. But, Tokyo is by far the most expensive city in Japan (well I think Osaka also enters in this category).
As for country side places, rent is a lot cheaper. I have some friends whose rent is about 5,000 yens per month, yes that's right 1/10 of my rent. They are living at international dormitories of their universities though. But I still checked and private rent there is also cheap.
Here in Tokyo, the budget to a quite fair small lunch is around 750~1250 yen, and dinner would be double of that. Fast food is always around 500~1000 yens though. As for cooking, I don't have enough time to do it myself, but you can save a lot of money that way. So I would say, as for Tokyo the budget for food would be around 30,000~50,000, and a fair budget to study in Tokyo would be some number around 100,000 ~ 150,000 yen.
In the country-side the food is also cheaper. I have travelled a lot myself these years here, and in some places with 1,000 yens you can have all you can eat menu (That's unthinkable in Tokyo). Cooking is also a lot cheaper. We made a small party, with the same amount I would use to have dinner in the closer restaurant to my home back in Tokyo. So in the country-side a budget of 50,000~100,000 yen for a student is possible.
I hope this post helped to clear your doubts, if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Y50,000 per month - no. I can not think of many places you could live on that - maybe some cheaper counties. Could you live on USD500/month in the US or GBP350/month in the UK?