Latest Posts

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 22, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Para Sports Paralympics

Tochigi stadium designed for Para Sports deemed to have made ‘Insufficient Barrier Free Measures’

The Tochigi stadium does not meet the standards of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because the view of the wheelchair seats is blocked when spectators in the front row stand up. The ramp leading to the entrance of the spectator seating area is long, and some people have pointed out that it is dangerous. Some people are concerned about the impact on disabled athletes and are calling for renovations.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 20, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Paralympics Sagamihara

Mayor of Japanese City at site where people with disabilities were killed to re-consider location of Paralympic torch ceremony

Kentaro Motomura, the Mayor of Sagamihara City, spoke at a regular press conference on the 20th about the intellectually disabled facility “Tsukui Yamayurien” where 19 residents were killed in July 2016. Mayor Motomura said: “I want to make a comprehensive judgment, including changing the location,” he said. The bereaved families were asking the city to cancel the event.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 20, 2021 Number of comments0
Coronavirus COVID-19 Deaf Disability Hearing Impaired Japan

As the pandemic continues, Nagoya based groups for the Deaf and hearing impaired raise concerns about masks hindering communication

As the new coronavirus spreads, a group of people concerned in Nagoya city, say “We have collected the real voices of people with hearing disabilities in the coronavirus disaster.” Wearing masks and other measures to prevent infection seem to be detrimental to the communication of deaf and deaf-blind people, who read words from the movement of their mouths and the shape of their fingers.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 18, 2021 Number of comments0
Children Discrimination Japan Welfare

Kyoto District Court suspends Child Support Allowance because mother was receiving a disability pension

Mayu Yamada, a single parent with four children, was receiving child support allowance when she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was awarded a basic disability pension in April 2017. However, in January 2006, Kyoto Prefecture suspended her child support allowance on the grounds that she was receiving a disability pension.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 17, 2021 Number of comments0
Coronavirus COVID-19 Disability Japan

Ibaraki Prefecture decides staff and residents at facilities for people with disabilities are to be given vaccine priority

The vaccine for the new coronavirua has begun to be given to the elderly on a priority basis, Ibaraki Prefecture has decided that residents and staff of facilities for the disabled will also be newly subject to priority vaccination, following a series of clusters of infected people at several facilities for the disabled in the prefecture.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 9, 2021 Number of comments0
Coronavirus COVID-19 Elderly Japan

Japan’s Health Ministry Report: Elderly People are Less Likely to See Vaccine Side Effects

Novel coronavirus vaccines are less likely to cause side effects for those aged 65 or older, Japan’s health ministry said Friday. The interim finding was reported at a meeting of the ministry’s expert panel on the relationship between coronavirus vaccines and side effects. Japan is slated to begin administering vaccines to elderly citizens Monday.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 8, 2021 Number of comments0
Abuse Crime Disability Japan Kobe

Fourteen year old student arrested for attempting to kill twenty-five year old man at Hyogo facility for the disabled

On April 7, the Arima Police Station of the Hyogo Prefectural Police arrested a 14-year-old male student on suspicion of attempted murder for attempting to kill a 25-year-old man at a facility for the intellectually disabled in Kobe City’s Kita Ward. The man is in a critical condition and unconscious.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 7, 2021 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Blind Disability Japan Travel

Hyogo Prefecture city produces CD explaining how to use JR platform fences to visually impaired people

The City of Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, has produced a CD teaching material to help the visually impaired learn about the platform fences installed at JR Akashi Station and other stations. The CD explains the procedure of walking through the station with a visually impaired person and getting on a train. It also includes an interview with a JR West employee and his impressions of the platform fence.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 4, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Podcast

Disability News Japan Podcast 64: Japanese Wheelchair User Votes In Diet For First Time In History

On March 26, during a session on the budget, Japanese lawmakers with disabilities were able to cast a vote in person owing to a ramp that had been built in the House of Councillors in January. This was the first time in history a lawmaker with a disability could vote in person, before it had to be done via a House of Councillors staff member.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 31, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Paralympics Tokyo 2020

880 Flame Events to Precede Tokyo Paralympics

Flame festivals and visits will take place in 43 of Japan’s 47 prefectures on Aug. 12-16, while the remaining four prefectures–Tokyo, Shizuoka, Chiba and Saitama–where Paralympic Games venues are located, will host similar events and the Paralympic torch relay from Aug. 17, according to a detailed program for Paralympic flame-related events announced by the organizing committee.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 31, 2021 Number of comments0
Care Disability Japan Sagamihara Welfare

Six prefectural facilities for people with disabilities “need improvement,” says report

Governor Kuroiwa, who received the report, said, “Although we cannot directly link this to the incident in which 19 people were killed, the problem is connected to it, and the prefectural government’s responsibility for overlooking it has been severely pointed out. We will take the report seriously and work to realize support from the user’s perspective,” he said.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 28, 2021 Number of comments0
Abuse Japan

2,398 people with disabilities abused in Japan in FY19

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) announced on March 26 that there were 2,202 cases of abuse suffered by people with disabilities from family members, welfare facilities and employees of business establishments in fiscal 2019, with 2,398 victims. The number has remained almost unchanged from the previous fiscal year. Two of the victims died. A record 8,519 cases were reported to the local government.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 27, 2021 1
Barrier Free Politics Reiwa Shinsengumi

Japanese disabled lawmakers vote in person for first time due to ramp installation

On March 26, during a session on the budget, Japanese lawmakers with disabilities were able to cast a vote in person owing to a ramp that had been built in the House of Councillors in January. This was the first time in history a lawmaker with a disability could vote in person, before it had to be done via a House of Councillors staff member.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 17, 2021 Number of comments0
Blind Disability Japan Travel

Visually impaired group representatives test new JR ticket vending machine

A study session was held at JR Kanazawa Station on the 16th to verify issues so that visually impaired people can use ticket vending machines smoothly. Yoshifumi Yoneshima (68), the chairman of the Ishikawa Association for the Visually Impaired, and helpers experienced purchasing a ticket using a new ticket vending machine installed on the premises in December last year.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 7, 2021 Number of comments0
Coronavirus COVID-19 developmental disabilities Disability Japan Mental Health

Hospitals in Japan refusing COVID-19 patients with developmental disabilities & mental illness

More than 60% of patients found to be infected with the novel coronavirus while in psychiatric hospitals in Japan could not be transferred to other medical facilities designated for COVID-19 cases, as general hospitals apparently tend to refuse them due to the perception that they are difficult to deal with, a survey has revealed.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 3, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Langusge

Japanese Government Subcommittee deliberates whether to include ‘harm’ in relation ‘disability’ in official “common kanji”

A subcommittee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, has been considering whether to add “harm” in relation to disability” to “common kanji”, as it has become commonly used in official documents, media and broadcasts. The subcommittee ultimately decided not to adopt the kanji.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 1, 2021 Number of comments0
Blind Disability Japan Travel

Tobu Railway considers measures to improve safety for people with visual impairments after falling incidents

In an accident where a visually impaired man fell from a platform and died at a station on the Tobu Tojo Line in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, Tobu Railway thoroughly spoke to visually impaired people and turned the edge of the platform red for the time being. The railway have decided to take measures such as calling attention to people with impaired vision.