Disability News Japan

In August 2024, Ms. Koyuki Hamano, 16, an intellectually disabled girl who was a resident of Chiba City, was rejected from the Chiba prefectural high school entrance examination, and asked the prefectural government to cancel her rejection, the Chiba District Court rejected her request to be provisionally obligated to enroll in the school. On February 4, Hamano's parents held a press conference in...

The final episode of NHK’s TV programme on minorities ‘Baribara’ will air on NHK E on Thursday March 6th 2024 at 20:00PM. It will look back on the 15 years of the programme covering the issues concerning minority groups in Japan. NHK ‘Baribara’ Website: https://www.nhk.jp/p/baribara/ts/8Q416M6Q79/episode/te/X4G14WJ361/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3lm_sjqkgRcXoriLFGcnhx4xjVVOkkunC39QgIO8CeqlmiC25tz_...

A report by All Nippon News Network (ANN) broadcast on February 28th confirmed that the seven employment support offices of the company ‘Union Social System’ that has its headquarters in Shinjo City, Yamagata prefecture, will close in March 2026; leading to 217 employees losing their jobs, a result of the so-called "1.06 million yen barrier.” Episode Notes: ‘Yamagata Employment Support Offices for...

The Japan Branch of the NPO Disabled People’ International (DPI), located in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, will hold an online rally on the theme of “Prisoners with disabilities and their right to use wheelchairs” on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The rally is being held in response to a ruling handed down in a lawsuit seeking ‘reasonable accommodation’ in Gifu, a lawsuit concerning an alleged human rights violati...

On February 19th, the Niigata District Court handed down a sentence of 14 years in prison to a former employee of an organization, who was charged with crimes including sexually assaulting and injuring a woman with a disability while transporting her in Sanjo City. The court ruled that “he repeatedly committed the crime, taking advantage of the fact that the victim could not resist, which is despi...

It just does often seem like social care for people with disabilities and the elderly in Sagamihara City and Kanagawa Prefecture as a whole, seems to suck. A Japanese district court on Thursday called on a family court to hear a case involving a 16-year-old boy charged with murdering his parents in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, last year. Takahira Yoshii, presiding judge at Yoko...

At the first hearing of the lay judge trial held at the Chiba District Court on February 17th, the defendant admitted to the charges, saying, "I did nothing wrong." The defense responded by arguing that the father had reached his limit with caring for his son, and that the sentence should be considered in light of the circumstances leading up to the incident. Episode notes: ‘78-year-old Chiba fath...

NHK E will begin airing a ‘welfare’ TV Programme on NHK E called ‘toi-toi’ from April 2025.​ On January 7th 2025, it was announced on the official website that NHK Educational TV’s barrier-free variety show “Baribara” (broadcast on Thursdays 8pm) would end in March 2025. However, it promised a replacement in the TV schedule. According to the NHK E Website ‘toi-toi’ is a “new welfare program where...

It has been revealed that a disability welfare service company with its headquarters in Shinjo City has indicated its intention to close its seven Type A continuous employment support offices in the prefecture at the end of March next year. According to the company, it plans to close seven Type A continuous employment support offices, where disabled people work under employment contracts, in Shinj...

Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry this year started rolling out an online system to enable about 70 institutions with minimal experience in the processes behind organ donations from brain-dead patients to connect with core medical institutions that have abundant experience. The initiative seeks to help the inexperienced institutions with declaring patients as brain dead and is part of an...

Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. said on Friday March 22nd 2024 it will voluntarily recall some 300,000 packs of five supplement products in Japan after reports of health damage suffered by users. The Osaka-based company said in March 2024 that 13 people had developed kidney disease and other symptoms after taking the products, advertised as foods with functional claims, including three containing “be...

A ‘News Digest’ about disability in Japan in podcast form! It has been snowing and is really cold, hence my breathing is a bit laboured at the end of the podcast, the air being that dry! Episode Notes: ‘Osaka High Court finalizes full lost earnings ruling for deceased girl with disability’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2025/02/08/osaka-high-court-finalizes-full-lost-earnings-ruling-for-deceased-gi...

Japan’s government says roughly 25,000 people are eligible for compensation as victims of forced sterilization or their bereaved relatives. It is believed that some of them may hesitate to apply due to fear of discrimination or may be unable to do so because of their disabilities. The new legislation provides 15 million yen, or about 96,500 dollars, for forcibly sterilized people, 5 million yen to...

It has been revealed that in October last year, a male student with a disability attending a special needs school in Mie Prefecture was filmed in a school toilet by two high school students and posted on social media, causing him to miss school for an extended period of time, and the school has determined that this constitutes a serious case of bullying. According to the Mie Prefectural Board of E...

A lawsuit filed by a man in his 30s from Chiba Prefecture against his former civil engineering company in Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture for damages, alleging that he was discriminated against and forced to resign from the civil engineering company where he was employed as a disabled person through Hello Work because the company did not take his developmental disability into consideration, has been...

A record number of public school educators took leave due to mental disorders in fiscal 2023, the third straight year of increase, according to a ministry survey. A record 7,119 educators, or 0.77 percent of the total, temporarily stepped away from their positions under the official leave system for mental illnesses in fiscal 2023, up 580 individuals, or 0.06 percentage point, from the previous ye...

January 27th, 1970 is the day that Duskin founder Suzuki Seiichi decided to enter into a business partnership with Mister Donut of America. Mister Donut designated this day as its founding day, and every year it donates a portion of purchases from customers to the ‘Duskin Ai No Wa Fund’ to help people with disabilities become independent and participate in society. Episode Notes: 'Mister Donut in...

As influenza and COVID-19 infections spread, facilities for people with disabilities are also struggling to respond. Facilities for people with severe intellectual disabilities have found it difficult to take precautions, and there have been cases of infections spreading among users and staff. At a residential facility for people with disabilities in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, is home to...

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has stressed the government’s resolve to steadily pay compensation to victims of forced sterilization conducted under the country’s now-defunct eugenics law.  He made the promise during a meeting with those including victims who sued the government over the matter at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Friday, when a law on compensation to forced steriliz...

In a lawsuit concerning the death of Ayuka Ide (then aged 11), who was born with a hearing impairment, and who was hit by a piece of heavy machinery seven years ago, the Osaka High Court changed the ruling of the first trial and allowed the payment of the same amount as a healthy person in the appeal trial judgment on the calculation of ‘lost earnings’ that could have been earned in the future. Al...

January 17th 2025 marked the 30 year anniversary of the Hanshin Awaji, Great Hanshin or Kobe Earthquake, which took the lives of 6,434 people and injured 43,792. Also, the Japanese government's Earthquake Research Committee has increased its assessed probability of an earthquake with a magnitude of 8 to 9 occurring along the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast within the next 30 years to...

Barrier Free Japan is not a luddite, the only reason Barrier Free Japan does not own an Apple Watch is because Barrier Free Japan cannot afford one, but a lot of the can vending machines near their work place have been turned into ‘cashless’ machines, so basically, Barrier Free Japan cannot buy a soft drink!  Barrier Free Japan's body spasms because of their physical disability so sometimes they c...

At 21:19 on 13th January 2025, a 6.9M (it initially registered as 6.4M), Shindo 5 earthquake, occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture. Tsunami warnings and advisories were all lifted before midnight, according to AP News. Episode niotes: https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#6/33.119/133.759/&elem=int&contents=earthquake_map&lang=en https://apnews.com/article/japan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-c9f7ee7959770d...

At 21:19 on 13th January 2025, a 6.9M (it initially registered as 6.4M), Shindo 5 earthquake, occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture. As of 23:00, that are still tsunami warnings and advisories in effect for western Japan. Episode niotes: https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#6/33.119/133.759/&elem=int&contents=earthquake_map&lang=en https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#6/30.823/132.205/&elem=warn&content...

The Association of Parents Who Work While Raising Children with Disabilities and Children with Medical Care held a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on December 17, 2024. When children turn 18 and graduate from special-needs schools, they can no longer receive after-school day care services, which are available until around 6 pm. The majority of these services end aroun...