Disability News Japan

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on December 1st that it will hold its annual ‘Disability Week’ from December 3rd to 9th. The aim of ‘Disability Week’ is to deepen public interest and understanding of disability welfare and to encourage people with disabilities to actively participate in all areas of social, economic, and cultural activities. Episode notes: ‘Tokyo Annual Disability Week...

The number of university students with developmental disabilities in Japan is on the rise, with their conditions often identified at a late stage through challenges in their social lives. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, 14,666 students with developmental disabilities were enrolled in universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in the 2024 academic year, a...

The organizers of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics have revealed that the number of people who visited the event’s venues totaled about 280,000, far more than their target of 100,000. Episode notes: ‘Tokyo Deaflympics Venue Attendance Far Exceeded Expectations’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2025/11/27/tokyo-deaflympics-venue-attendance-far-exceeded-expectations/

As the Tokyo Deaflympics nears its conclusion, the Japanese women’s basketball and volleyball teams won gold medals at the Tokyo Deaflympics on Tuesday. Japan narrowly beat the United States 65-64 in the women’s basketball final, and trumped Turkey to win their first women’s volleyball gold in two Deaflympics. Episode Notes: ‘Japan Women Win Basketball, Volleyball Gold at Tokyo Deaflympics’: https...

Japan’s medal haul at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics reached a record 31 on Sunday, surpassing the previous national best of 30 set at the 2022 Games in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, organizers said. Japan added to its tally with strong performances across multiple sports. In karate, the women’s team won gold in the team kata event, while 20-year-old Kenji Mori captured the men’s individual kata title. In sw...

Japan will substantially hike visa issuance fees for foreign residents in the next fiscal year and utilize the additional revenue to strengthen policies supporting multiculturalism, government sources said Thursday. The new fees come amid a rise in foreign residents in the country, with the cost of changing visa status or reissuing for a term of one year or longer to be hiked by up to 40,000 yen (...

Japan’s first judo podium came on Nov. 14, when Kazuma Gamo secured bronze in the men’s 73-kilogram division. The remaining medals followed on Nov. 17, with Yuto Fukasawa taking bronze in the men’s 81-kg class, Mizuki Mizutare in the men’s 90-kg, and Tomoki Takahashi in the men’s 100-kg. In the women’s events, Akira Kinugawa added another bronze in the 70-kg category. Maki Yamada won the men's 400...

A 60-year-old woman with an intellectual disability in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, was denied a UR rental apartment despite having spent more than a year preparing to live independently with support from a local nonprofit, prompting concerns that the agency’s requirement for a co-resident family member constitutes discriminatory treatment. Episode notes: ‘Osaka Woman With Intellectual Disability R...

The former officer, Masato Takeuchi, and another suspect arrested over the case, 55-year-old company employee Hiromi Ishichi, are apparently denying the allegations. Takeuchi is a board member of a Kyoto-based group, mainly comprising former police officers, that provides daily assistance to elderly people with dementia. The police believe the two suspects withdrew several million yen in cash usin...

Japan is preparing to host its first-ever Deaflympics from Nov. 15 to 26, with events held in Tokyo, Shizuoka, and Fukushima, and Narita airport stepping up accessibility measures for the thousands of athletes and visitors expected from around 80 countries. The airport has introduced pictogram signage, written communication tools, and staff training sessions led by people with hearing impairments...

The Hikone branch of the Otsu District Public Prosecutors Office announced on the 10th that it has decided not to indict a 70-year-old male care worker from Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture. The man had been arrested on suspicion of preparation for murder and violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Act after allegedly hiding a kitchen knife at the welfare facility for people with disabilities in...

A welfare-related company based in Osaka City is suspected of having improperly received tens of billions of yen in disability employment support subsidies (payments) since fiscal 2024, city officials revealed on November 5. The company allegedly exploited a system that increases subsidy amounts based on the number of disabled workers who find employment in regular companies. Osaka City has launch...

I am not a climate change denier, nor am I indifferent to environmental issues, but these types of cups are really difficult for me to use as a person with disabilities. The Golden Arches may not be the ‘environmental issue’ hill I wish to die on, but its going to be really difficult for me to go to McDonalds in Japan after November 19th. The fast-food chain said it will begin introducing a new li...

A 43-year-old care worker at a facility for people with disabilities in Higashiomi, Shiga Prefecture, has been arrested for indecent assault and is suspected of abusing 15 residents in total, the facility’s operator said Thursday. According to the social welfare corporation Gamounokai, which runs the Akane support facility, the worker admitted to acts including pinching, headbutting, and hiding st...

A couple in Tokyo were all set to move into a new home when a real estate agent abruptly relayed a message from the apartment management company. “We regret to inform you that we cannot proceed with the contract.”They repeatedly tried to get an explanation from the company but could not gain access. The couple then realized the company’s decision to reject their application came soon after the pro...

These groups cleverly approach university students, both on and off campus, using topics that interest them (social contribution, job hunting, international exchange, etc.), and subtly manipulate them through mind control, drawing them into their activities. Students may be forced to purchase expensive goods, separated from their families and friends, and have their student lives ruined.

The Japanese gaming industry is working to improve video game accessibility by developing equipment and systems that allow people with disabilities affecting their hands to play by using other parts of their body, such as their cheeks, feet and eyes. There were people playing games without using their hands at an area dedicated to accessibility at the Tokyo Game Show in the city of Chiba in Septem...

Japan’s overall suicides fell to 20,320 in 2024, the second-lowest figure on record, but the number of schoolchildren who took their own lives rose to a record 529, government data showed. Suicides among junior high school students reached their highest level since statistics began in 1980, with school-related problems cited as the leading cause. The 2025 White Paper on Suicide Prevention noted th...

As of Tuesday 21st October, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s new Cabinet appointed Kenichiro Ueno as health, labor and welfare minister and Hitoshi Kikawada as minister for children and population issues, but did not include a minister specifically in charge of elderly or disabled affairs, leaving those areas under the health ministry’s broader welfare framework. Episode notes: ‘New Cabinet under T...

Japanese public prosecutors on Wednesday 15th October sought the death penalty for Hideaki Nozu, who has been charged with killing three members of his family with a crossbow at his home in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, in June 2020.The prosecution said that Nozu's autism spectrum disorder did not significantly affect his motivation and that his acts were planned. The defendant maintained the capa...

Unicharm Corp. announced on Wednesday 15th October it will begin a trial installation of free sanitary pad dispensers at 22 public facilities in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, in partnership with the local government. Running until Dec. 26, the initiative aims to support individuals who cannot afford menstrual products. While Unicharm provides the dispensers, Shibuya Ward will supply the sanitary napkins....

In two separate incidents in Japan, vulnerable residents of care facilities tragically lost their lives under disturbing circumstances. In Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, a 38-year-old woman with disabilities died in December 2022 after suffering severe burns from overly hot bathwater during staff-assisted bathing. Three employees of the Hitakami-en facility have been referred to prosecutors for pr...

A long-running bus service for people with disabilities in Saitama Prefecture will be discontinued at the end of the fiscal year due to a shortage of drivers and the wider availability of lift-equipped charter buses from private operators, the prefectural government said. The Oozora-go, a 40-seat bus donated over decades by Musashino Bank, has served thousands annually since 1973, offering afforda...

October 13th is ‘Sports Day’ a national holiday in Japan! A Japanese government survey showed Friday that 75.8 pct of the respondents are unaware of the enactment of the country's basic law on dementia. The result of the public opinion survey by the Cabinet Office revealed that public awareness in Japan remains low even more than a year and a half after the law's enforcement in January 2024. Of th...

The Mie prefectural government plans to create what it says will be Japan’s first ordinance with a penalty aimed at deterring customers from behaving abusively to workers. The ordinance would define customer abuse as excessive nuisances that go beyond social norms and harm employees’ working environment. Vicious behavior, such as shouting to demand an apology, would be classified as designated cus...