Disability News Japan

On January 7th 2025, it was announced on the official website that NHK Educational TV’s barrier-free variety show “Baribara” will end in March. The production team of the show announced, “Baribara, which has been broadcast with the aim of eliminating ‘barriers’ for ‘all minorities who have difficulty living’, will end in March this year.” Episode Notes: ‘NHK’s Disability TV Show “Baribara” to end...

Concerns have been raised about the deaths of elderly people who died of “indirect causes” after they were evacuated, dying at care facilities. Jiji Press reported that as of Wednesday 25th December 2024 that “22 of 176 elderly evacuees from Ishikawa had died at elderly care facilities or elsewhere in Toyama, according to the Toyama Prefectural Government. In Aichi, 16 of 68 such evacuees died at...

2025 is the year of Tokyo Deaflympics, which will be held from November 15 to 26, 2025 in Tokyo with other venues in Shizuoka and Fukushima. Despite being older than the Paralympics – the first Deaflympics was held in Paris, France in 1924 – it doesn’t receive as much attention as the Paralympics, although like the Paralympics it is recognized by the IOC. This event will commemorate the 100th anni...

Oshōgatsu! Welcome to 2025! Happy New Year from Disability News Japan & Barrier Free Japan!

In the style of all the ‘big beasts’ of social media, I thought ‘Barrier Free Japan’ should do a ‘Wrap-up’ at the end of 2024. 2024 seemed to be the year of finalizing ‘forced sterilization’ cases. In July, the Eugenic Protection Law was deemed unconstitutional by the Japanese Supreme Court, and later in July the then Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida apologized for the Eugenic Protection Law...

A large number of people with disabilities are being let go from workplaces in Japan as government-aided employers which offered them chances to gain skills and knowledge while working have been closing down. The national government should speed up support measures while thinking up systems to protect their employment. Formerly, there were about 4,600 such facilities nationwide. Between March and...

On December 13th, Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, took administrative action under the Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities Act to revoke the designation of ‘MIRAI’, a Type B support for continuous employment support facility operated by Imakoko, a general incorporated association in the city, for fraudulently claiming and receiving approximately 7.95 million yen in disability welfare...

Two years have now passed since the disability studies scholar and Japanologist Mark Bookman PhD (1991 - 2022) died on December 16th 2022. At the time of his death, Mark was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tokyo College and about to take up a position at Ritsumeikan University. The film ‘Mark: A Call to Action’ chronicles his life and the ‘GLIDE fund’ is an organization established in Mark’s memory to pr...

The city of Sapporo has taken administrative action to suspend the admission of new users to a disability support facility in Kiyota Ward for three months after two users were beaten and abused by staff at the facility. According to Sapporo City, on July 23rd of this year, a male staff member in his 40s at Sapporo Suginaen punched a male user in his 50s in the face and kicked another user in his 6...

Over a year has passed since Yasuko Arakawa, who had been diagnosed with an early-onset type of dementia, disappeared from their home in the western Japan city of Yonago on August 8th 2023. Her husband Tsutomu is desperately seeking any information on her whereabouts. 荒川泰子さんは2023年8月8日、西日本の米子市の自宅から姿を消して以来、早期発症型認知症と診断されていた彼女の行方は、1年以上経ってもわ...

Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd said on Friday 6th December that it will switch from paper straws to biomass plastic straws from January. The major coffee chain said the step is aimed at providing more comfortable straws to customers and alleviating burdens on the environment. Episode Notes: ‘Starbucks Coffee Japan to Switch to Biomass Plastic Straws’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2024/12/08/starbucks-...

Yumi Suzuki, one of the plaintiffs who sued the Japanese government over forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenics protection law was selected for the BBC's annual list of "influential and inspiring women" around the world on Tuesday 3rd December. The theme of this year's selection was "resilience," highlighting the women who "are pushing for change and improving lives at community or gl...

“Our older daughter, a junior high school student, has a severe intellectual disability. She is unable to take care of herself, so I have to help her with everything, including using the bathroom and bathing. She is very particular about things and often gets angry suddenly or screams nonstop for a long time. I don’t know when it happened, but I started not thinking about her as precious to me. I...

Due to stay in Japan until Thursday, the winter visitor plans to interact with children at facilities such as nursery schools and attend events in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. Santa came to Japan on a direct flight from Finland, appearing from the plane with a trademark red cap and white beard, waving and wishing bystanders "Merry Christmas!” Episode notes: ‘Santa Arrives in Japan from Finland’: https...

The Osaka High Court on Monday 25th November upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a doctor, Yoshikazu Okubo, aged 46, to 18 years in prison for the consensual killing of a woman, Yuri Hayashi, 51, who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2019 in western Japan. The defense for 46-year-old Yoshikazu Okubo had argued that fi...

On November 22nd, a Korean disability activist Park Kyung-Seok was deported from Japan after seven hours at Narita Airport, along with his two caregivers. The reason given for Park’s deportation was that in South Korea he has received a suspended sentence for violation of the Assemblies and Demonstrations Act in 2012 for attending an illegal demonstration in South Korea and that under Article 5, p...

Spectators are typically not permitted to use electronics, but the individual relies on speech-to-text technology due to impaired hearing and was interested in attending the trial after learning about it through the media. The Japanese government will help raise wages for care workers to alleviate labor shortages in the sector, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said in a recent i...

The Niigata Nippo reported on November 19th that in order to deepen understanding of disabilities, a civic group and university students in Higashi Ward, Niigata City, produced a short film "Voice ~ I want to hear your voice ~". A person involved said, "We hope that this will be an opportunity for people to learn about the real daily life of living together with people with disabilities.” The film...

A settlement was reached on Friday 15th November at the Nagoya High Court in central Japan in a damages lawsuit over forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenic protection law. After the settlement was reached, the plaintiff, Keiko Onoue (74) spoke about how she “kept silent for 50 years” as there was no one with whom she could "discuss” it. Speaking at a press conference after the settleme...

A settlement was reached on Friday 15th November at the Nagoya High Court in central Japan in a damages lawsuit over forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenic protection law, ending a series of similar lawsuits in the country, according to the defense lawyers. The Nagoya lawsuit was filed by Keiko Onoue, 74, and her husband, Kazutaka, 77, against the Japanese government. The settlement te...

Disability News Japan has noticed a number of adverts and leaflets at train stations of late. Specifically they are aimed at discouraging people from walking on escalators or walking whilst looking at their smartphones.

The saga of Barrier Free Japan versus JR Kyoto Station’s toilet ‘Out of Order’ ‘Accessible Toilet’ continues… Back in December 2023, Barrier Free Japan wrote about they often leave Kyoto by JR Kyoto Station and noted that one of JR Kyoto Station’s ‘accessible toilets’ had been ‘out of order’ or ‘unavailable for use’ for weeks. Barrier Free Japan reported on October 31st 2024 that almost over one y...

Companies in Japan of a certain size are required by law to employ people with disabilities, according to the ‘Act on Promotion of Employment of People with Disabilities’. Companies with 40 or more employees in Japan are required by law to employ at least one person with a disability. According to the Toyama Labor Bureau, over half of the companies that meet that certain size have not employed a s...

Ota Ward in Tokyo has decided to introduce a free "5-year-old health check" for preschool children. It has already started on a trial basis at nurseries in the ward. The test places more emphasis on mental development than the current school entry health check, takes more time to test. The aim is to lead to early detection and support of developmental disorders. Ota Ward began the trial of five-ye...

December 3rd to December 9th every year is Disability Week. The Disabled Persons Week was established by the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities to promote interest and understanding of welfare of persons with disabilities among the public at large, and to promote active participation of persons with disabilities in activities in all fields. Shinagawa Ward also focuses on efforts to deepen und...