The Finance Ministry is planning to refuse to provide state subsidies to U.S.-style law schools that are to be established next spring to address a shortage of practicing lawyers in Japan, ministry sources said Saturday.

While the education ministry is requesting subsidies in the state budget for fiscal 2004, the Finance Ministry believes special public subsidies are inappropriate for graduate schools that prepare students for careers that typically involve higher salaries.

The plan could draw criticism from the education ministry and the legal community because a number of schools had assumed they would receive subsidies.

Proposals have been filed to establish 72 law schools across Japan for around 6,000 people, while an education ministry panel on Friday approved the opening of 66 schools.

State-run schools are planning to set annual tuition fees at around 780,000. Private school tuition will range from 1.5 million to 2 million.

Should subsidies not be provided, these amounts could increase.

In filing its requests for the fiscal 2004 budget, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology sought 5 billion for subsidies for privately run law schools as well as 7.8 billion for specialized graduate schools, including law schools at public and private universities.

Sharing subsidy cutGovernment officials began discussions Saturday on ways to share the burden of a 1 trillion cut in state subsidies to local governments that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is planning for fiscal 2004.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi, Vice Finance Minister Masakazu Hayashi and Masaki Nishimura, vice minister of public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, held talks after Koizumi instructed them to come up with a plan.

Koizumi ordered Cabinet ministers Friday to have their ministries and agencies cooperate to reduce state subsidies by 1 trillion as part of his pledge to cut 4 trillion in such subsidies during the three-year period starting in fiscal 2004.