Tokyo Company Suspected of Violating Laws and Regulations, Introducing Users of Disabled Welfare Services for a Fee

By Barrier Free Japan, extract from Kyodo via Yahoo! Japan

February 24 2025

TOKYO – The former “Anispi Holdings” (Tokyo based company, now split into two companies), which claimed to be the “largest in the industry” was found to have falsified documents in a group home for disabled people it operated. It was revealed on February 24th that an affiliated company with the same representative director was recruiting franchise affiliates for a business that was highly likely to have violated laws and regulations.

The business is to introduce users to welfare service offices for a fee, but the operating standards based on the Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities Act prohibits the offices from giving money or goods in exchange for the introduction of users. This is because welfare for the disabled is largely financed by public funds, and taxpayers’ money is used for other purposes.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) has stated that “there is no law or regulation that regulates the referral business itself, but the business office that pays the money or goods is in violation of the standards,” and that it will “consider how to deal with the situation.

In early February, the affiliate “Japan Welfare Organization” responded to an interview by Kyodo News, saying, “We are not aware of any violation of the standards. The company later stated that it had “suspended operations”. The company said that it did not check with the administrative authorities when it started its business.

The company was established by Hideaki Fujita, the representative director of the former Anispi and its successor company.