“Going on sale will be tickets for general audience, tickets for wheelchair users and accompanying people, and special tickets costing ¥2,020 apiece for groups including children or elderly people, or people with disabilities.”
“But when it comes to accommodation…everyone knows we have the issue of accessibility,” he said, highlighting transport and access to public buildings as areas that must be addressed.”
“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to issue a statement offering a state apology to victims of forced sterilization under a now-defunct eugenics law after a redress bill clears parliament, government sources said Tuesday.”
“The organizing committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games on Saturday 13th April unveiled the official sport pictograms for the Paralympics.”
“The nationwide survey, conducted between late March and early April, found that only 67 forced sterilization victims had requested disclosure of their surgery and other related records between January 2018 and March 2019.”
“Deeming that penalties are necessary to prevent abuse of the controversial procedure, Japan’s Cabinet Office is expected to propose the legislation at a bioethics panel’s meeting on April 22. The science and health ministries will discuss the specifics before making a decision in the fall, the sources said.”
“Saturday April 13th 2019 marks 500 days until the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games at Japan’s new national stadium in Tokyo.”
“The Osaka District Court on April 11 ordered the government to reinstate basic disability pensions for nine type-1 diabetes patients, which it had severed without a detailed explanation.”
“Victims of a eugenics program are unsatisfied with a relief bill to compensate thousands of people forcibly sterilized under a 1948 law designed to “prevent births of inferior children.” A proposal to provide lump-sum payments of 3.2 million yen ($28,800) for each victim was approved by the Lower House Committee on Health, Labor and Welfare on April 10. [L]awyers cited three main problems with the bill: The state does not directly apologize in the bill; the lump-sum payment is too small; and victims’ spouses and relatives are not eligible to receive relief.
“Jiji Press conducted a telephone interview with Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), about the current situation, challenges, and significance of the event.”
“The number of workers with disabilities increased 7.9& from the previous year to 534,769.5, accounting for a record 2.05% of the total workforce, up 0.08 percentage point and the first reading above 2.0%
But only 45.9% of all companies met the legal standard, down 4.1%”
“The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Marathon event will feature a total of five classes, including a class for men and women with visual impairments (T12), male amputees (T46), and men and women’s wheelchair users (T54). Athletes with visual impairment will be allowed to be accompanied by a guide runner. The players must hold the elbows of the guide runners or hold on the ropes and run, as they must not be separated by more than 50 cm.”
“”I want to show to the world Japan’s innovativeness, which allows even those with serious disabilities to participate in society,” said 54-year-old Hajime Takano, a resident of the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. He hopes to become a volunteer in the service sector, such as directing visitors to their destinations. “
By Barrier Free Japan April 5th 2019 There seemed to be a ‘sign language fail’ by The Japan government withContinue Reading
“An initiative to support students who can not find employment easily due to developmental disorders in cooperation with universities and private employment support establishments began in Kansai.”
“Whether disabled people will be ‘orderly’ or ‘harmonious’, at least the ‘Reiwa’ era’s name in Japan was announced with sign language.”
“According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as of March 2018, approximately 5.11 million have the physical disability notebook, approximately 990,000 have the mental health and welfare notebook.”
“More than 45 percent of respondents to a Mainichi Shimbun survey targeting people with developmental disorders aged 20 and older said they had depression…Of the respondents, 862 had been diagnosed with developmental disabilities, of which 45.5 percent, or 393 people, were diagnosed with depression.”
“In the first extensive survey conducted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on people working in the nursing care industry, 81 percent of those reporting harassment said they had been psychologically abused at least once in 2018.”
“Speaking about the problem of the employment of persons with disabilities, Japan’s Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Takumi Nemoto stated on March 26th that the government’s recruitment activities may result in the possibility that some persons with disabilities will leave the private sector and some companies may not meet the legal employment rate.”
“Plans to build new facilities n Yokohama City, Kanagawa prefecture continue with an aim re-settle the residents there and rebuilding work is underway at the site of the incident.”
“Japanese company ‘Whill’ produces smartphone-controlled wheelchair”
“[To] achieve the hiring rate of the disabled for public institutions set by the country’s law at 2.5 percent of all officials, the government needs to secure 3,000 more.”
“Diet members from the ruling and opposition parties have jointly compiled a draft bill to provide relief to many with intellectual disabilities and others who underwent sterilization surgery under the now-defunct Eugenic Protection Law.”
“The bill would obligate central government ministries, agencies and local municipalities to confirm a job applicant’s disabled status by verifying specific documents.”
“The labor ministry will be granted review and advisory power to check whether such agencies are employing disabled people according to the rules.”
“Under the plan, presented at a related meeting on Monday, such ministries and agencies will each see a cut of ¥600,000 per person a year from funds allotted to purchase consumables, beginning in fiscal 2021.”
“Training to open a “welfare shelter” that accepts victims who need assistance such as disabled people when a disaster occurs was held in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture on the 17th March. Approximately 40 people, including nine visually impaired people and city and center staff, participated in the training conducted at the Shiga Prefectural Center for the Visually Impaired in Hikone City.”
“The robots, created with Japanese technology, are expected to assist spectators in such ways as guiding people to their seats at stadiums, bringing food and drinks to those in wheelchairs, providing event information and helping carry things.”
“Lawyers indicated that the proposal will not end the litigation. One problem, they said, was that the apology in the bill does not clearly state who is apologizing… The compensation amount outlined in the legislation was also blasted as inadequate.”
“”I don’t think this bill can be said to squarely face up to the suffering (of the victims),” Koji Niisato, a co-leader of the group, said at a news conference, noting that the plaintiffs will continue with their lawsuits.”
“A man,41, from Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, who has autism due to severe intellectual disability, who sought damages of ¥ 16.5 million from the prefecture, because his DNA was collected from prefectural police without consent. He was awarded 110,000 yen. The ruling was made at Kobe District Court on the 13th March. “
“The woman signed a letter of intent to discontinue dialysis. The woman subsequently suggested her will to resume dialysis saying, “I’m wondering whether to retract the letter,” but she died.
“We offered various options to her and she made her own decision. We confirmed her will on multiple occasions, so what we did is an appropriate medical practice…””
“…[C]oncerns have been raised about whether the quality of the counseling and other support provided to women taking the tests and their families can be secured if the tests are made available at a wider range of medical institutions, including small clinics, by easing the requirements for authorized facilities.
“The revelations follow the disclosure of the death of a 44-year-old woman suffering from a kidney ailment after a doctor at the hospital offered the option of discontinuing dialysis and she complied.”
“京都ダウン症児を育てる親の会(トライアングル”
“The bill will offer an apology and a lump-sum payment of at least 3 million yen ($27,000) to each of the victims, even those without surgical records.”
By Barrier Free Japan March 7th 2019 Here are some images and videos from my recent visit to Tokyo.
“This raises the grave concern that undergoing such screenings could become “a matter of course” and may well result in “overly casual” decisions concerning the fate of fetuses with irregularities.”
“The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s (JSOG) executive board has decided to allow obstetrician-gynecologists who run their own private practices to conduct blood tests on pregnant women to detect possible chromosome abnormalities such as Down syndrome in their babies.”
“Speaking at a protest meeting in December, Takaji Kobayashi claimed he was forcibly sterilised because of a hearing impairment. His wife, Kimiko, who also has a hearing disorder, was coerced into having an abortion and being sterilised…”
“Asian Boss’s reporter Hiroko asks Hirotada Otatake about his childhood, and what sort of experiences he had growing up.”
“Universal tourism, or tourism accessible to all people regardless of age, nationality, disability and other factors that may discourage leisurely travel, is starting to gain wider recognition in graying Japan.”
“Yumi Suzuki, a woman with cerebral palsy, who is now 63 years old, filed a civil law suit at the Kobe District Court on Wednesday February 27th seeking compensation of 11 million yen for violations she experienced under the former Eugenic Protection Law, which was a law enforced in Japan from 1948 until 1996.
“The driver told the company he regrets “making the wrong decision,” according to a Matsudo Shin-Keisei Bus official.”
“The group “Aoitori” (“Bluebird”) has been running a free meal service called “Kishiwada Kodomo Shokudo” every fourth Saturday of the month to help children and other people in need, supporting patients who are hospitalized for lengthy periods in psychiatric wards, and making radio appearances to address various concerns.”
“The Japanese government plans to ease language requirements for foreign technical interns to work in the nursing care business as part of efforts to bring in more laborers from abroad…”
“In 37 Seconds, 23-year-old comic book artist Yuma, physically disabled due to profound cerebral palsy and emotionally stunted by her well-meaning but overly protective mother, forges her own unusual path to sexual awakening and independence while at the same time discovering love and forgiveness.”
“The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry’s assessment committee on regenerative medicine approved Monday a clinical trial by Keio University’s team to transplant human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into patients with spinal cord injuries.”
“The important thing is to make preparations for accepting them. Should these new workers be hired on a massive scale and in a coercive manner, just to make up the numbers, it would be difficult for these individuals to settle into their new workplaces. It is a matter of course to aim at meeting the statutory hiring rate soon, but such endeavors should be advanced carefully, in keeping with workplace conditions.”
