Disability News Japan

Typhoon Jangmi is expected to develop into a large and powerful storm when it reaches the south of Okinawa Prefecture by 9 a.m. on Monday, according to the Japan Weather Association. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, as of 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jangmi was moving northwest over the waters east of the Philippines at a speed of 15 kph. The central pressure is 992 hectopascals, and the maxim...

Typhoon Jangmi, also known as Typhoon No. 6, will reach the south of Okinawa Prefecture by 9 a.m. on Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. It is expected to reach the waters off Shikoku by 9 a.m. on Wednesday. According to the agency, as of 9 a.m. on Friday, Jangmi was moving north-northwest over the waters east of the Philippines at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. The central p...

A controversy has emerged over Japan’s disability pension system after reports that staff at the Japan Pension Service had, in some cases, secretly discarded doctors’ assessment results and asked other doctors to re-evaluate applications. An internal document acknowledged the risk that reviews could be repeated until staff were satisfied, suggesting potential arbitrariness, but the Ministry of Hea...

During the roughly 45-minute session, the employees watched videos created in collaboration with organizations for people with disabilities to learn about the specific challenges faced by individuals with visual, hearing, and other impairments. In group workshops, they discussed what kind of assistance they could provide in daily life. Episode notes: ‘Sagamihara City staff attend disability awaren...

The drug is estimated to have been administered to 12,000 to 13,000 patients in Japan. All 20 dead patients developed liver dysfunction, and 210 similar side effect reports have been made, including suspected cases. Episode notes: ‘Kissei Ordered to Warn over Vasculitis Drug after Fatalities’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026/05/22/kissei-ordered-to-warn-over-vasculitis-drug-after-fatalities/

At the Fiscal System Subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council held on April 28, discussions were also held on the field of disability welfare. The Ministry of Finance stated that the total cost of disability welfare services, combining public expenditures and user co-payments, had reached 4.2 trillion yen as of fiscal year 2024, roughly doubling over the past decade, and expressed the view that i...

The fraudulent claims amounted to approximately 7 million yen in total, disbursed across 17 municipalities in four prefectures: Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitama, and Tokyo. The respective local governments will demand the return of approximately 9.8 million yen, which includes surcharge penalties. This marks the fifth time since July 2025 that Ibaraki prefecture has revoked a facility’s designation due to...

Hirotada Ototake, who was born with a congenital condition resulting in the absence of limbs (“tetra-amelia”), quoted a post by a user who argued that support for people with mental disabilities should be prioritized over that for those with physical disabilities. He commented, “These kinds of ‘misery comparisons’ or ‘pulling each other down’ are not only meaningless, but actually counterproductiv...

My beloved wrote a book about Disability! Pre-order ‘障害と生きることの現象学: 脳性まひの身体からみえる生活世界’ by 稲原 美苗 (Minae Inahara on Amazon today!: https://www.amazon.co.jp/障害と生きることの現象学-脳性まひの身体からみえる生活世界-稲原-美苗/dp/4582703755

A former instructor at a support organization arrested on suspicion of committing indecent acts against a woman with a developmental disability during a class told her they were “going to practice making a baby”. Episode notes: ‘Instructor Arrested for Indecent Acts Against Woman with Developmental Disability Told Her They Were “going to practice making a baby” ’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026...

In a case where disabled persons working from home were employed by large companies through a disability employment agency but were not given any actual work, it has been revealed that “Thanks Lab” (Naha City), the agency that brokered the employment, had requested people with disabilities not to contact their employers directly in cases of absence or other issues. It appears that some disabled pe...

About 10 passengers were taken to hospital after an emergency report of something being sprayed in a train car on the Tokaido Line section of the Ueno-Tokyo Line of East Japan Railway Co. at about 4:35 p.m. on Sunday 10th May. Episode notes: 'Passengers Taken to Hospital After Spraying Incident on JR East Train': https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026/05/11/passengers-taken-to-hospital-after-spraying-i...

Employees with disabilities were referred to as “talents,” and “connections between talents via chat tools, social media, etc., are prohibited,” forbidding contact with other employees with disabilities, such as colleagues. The reason given for this was that it would “lead to trouble.” Episode notes: ‘Okinawa Company Denies Hiring People with Disabilities and Prohibiting Contact with Employer’: ht...

According to Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry data released on the 4th, the number of vocational training centres for the disabled where “more than half of users work from home” has surged 3.2 times over the four-year period ending in 2025. Because remote support reduces overhead costs, such as personnel expenses for on-site staff, the Ministry suspects that some profit-driven operators are ab...

After a man with disabilities went missing from a ‘Group Home’ in Tokyo recently, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police requested information from the public then later took the request down from the Internet. I’m sure the man has been found, but I offer some thoughts on the differences between Britain and Japan with such incidences.

The city of Osaka has filed a criminal complaint against the operating company of Kizuna Holdings (HD), which had been subject to administrative sanctions for fraudulently receiving approximately 15 billion Yen in disability employment support benefits. As of May 1st 2026, Osaka city has also revoked the designation of the company’s facilities. Episode notes: ‘Osaka city files criminal complaint a...

The Japanese tabloid magazine ‘FRIDAY’ has been investigating misuse of the ‘Help Mark’, which was designed to help people with disabilities alert people of possible needs they might have. Episode notes: Japanese Tabloid Investigates Misuse Of Disability ‘Help Mark’ as ‘Life Hack’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2026/05/02/japanese-tabloid-investigates-misuse-of-disability-help-mark-as-life-hack/

A lawsuit is being heard at the Imabari branch of the Matsuyama District Court in which a visually impaired woman is seeking approximately 1.7 million yen in damages from a dog owner, alleging that she fell and was injured after an unleashed dog approached her guide dog. In an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, the plaintiff stressed, “If you fall on a public road, there’s a risk of being hit by a ca...

Tokyo police have re-arrested two men, including the alleged leader of a group accused of exploiting a dating app aimed at people with disabilities, in what investigators describe as a systematic fraud scheme targeting vulnerable users. The suspects are accused of luring victims, such as a man in his 30s, to bars in Shibuya after meeting them on the app, then falsely claiming losses like canceled...

An earthquake struck the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido early Monday morning. The Japan Meteorological Agency says it occurred at 5:24 a.m. The epicenter was the southern Tokachi region and the focus was at a depth of 80 kilometers. The estimated magnitude was 6.1. An intensity of upper 5 on the Japanese scale of zero to seven was recorded in Urahoro Town, while an intensity of lower 5 w...

A district court in southwestern Japan on Thursday 23rd April dismissed a damages claim by people with disabilities who said that the unmanned operations of stations by Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, violated their freedom of movement. "It cannot be acknowledged that there was unfair and discriminatory treatment" on the grounds of disability in operating stations without staff, Oita District Co...

In a retrial at the Fukuoka District Court on the 20th, Presiding Judge Shinichi Suzushima sentenced a 44-year-old male radiological technologist to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years. The man had been charged with quasi-forcible indecency for touching the chest of a female student with intellectual disabilities during a 2018 medical check-up at a high school in Fukuoka P...

A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, and triggering tsunami warnings. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the tremor occurred at around 4:52 p.m. off the Sanriku Pacific coastal area of northeastern Japan, with upper 5 seismic intensity observed in the town of Hashikami in Aomor...

A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday 20th April 2026, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, and triggering tsunami warnings. The quake had an estimated magnitude of 7.7 and occurred at a depth of about 10 kilometres. A ‘Subsequent Earthquake Advisory’ has been issued so to be wary of aftershocks. This is the second time such a...

A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, and triggering tsunami warnings. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the tremor occurred at around 4:52 p.m. off the Sanriku Pacific coastal area of northeastern Japan, with upper 5 seismic intensity observed in the town of Hashikami in Aomor...