Hyogo Disability Rights Groups to Rally in Kobe Following Facility Violence Reports

By Barrier Free Japan

January 1 2026

Hyogo – People with disabilities in Hyogo Prefecture will hold an emergency rally in Kobe on January 24th to protest violence at residential care facilities and to call for the early realization of deinstitutionalization. The gathering was prompted by reports that a resident with intellectual and physical disabilities died after being assaulted by staff at a facility in Sanda City. Organized by the Independent Living Center ‘Ring Ring’ and co-hosted by ‘Remember 7.26 Kobe Action’, the event will feature speakers from ‘Hyogo People First’ and will focus on disability rights and the need for community-based living.

The rally was called for after a very serious incident was reported on November 27th 2025, that at facility for people with disabilities in Sanda City, Hyogo, a resident with both intellectual and physical disabilities was subjected to violence by staff and later died.

The flier advertising the rally states that:

“After learning of this incident, we decided to hold a gathering in order to once again think about the human rights of people with disabilities and what it means to live in facilities.“