Kumamoto City Investigates Disability Allowance Re-certification Procedures After “bedridden” Resident Had Welfare Payments Stopped

From The Yomiuri Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

June 10 2026

Kumamoto – The Kumamoto City Ombudsman, which investigates complaints submitted by residents of Kumamoto City, has revealed that there were shortcomings in the city’s handling of re-certification procedures for the Special Disability Allowance during the previous fiscal year.

According to the Ombudsman, the recipient was bedridden and unable to visit a medical institution for an examination, yet the city suspended the allowance on the grounds that the required medical certificate had not been submitted. The Ombudsman pointed out that the recipient’s relatives had consulted the city about alternative means of completing the procedure, but the city had not accepted those requests. Taking this into account, the Ombudsman stated that “there were deficiencies in an administrative process that merely demanded submission of a medical certificate.” In response, the city changed its procedures so that staff would direct recipients to designated physicians capable of providing appropriate assistance.

Regarding the Ombudsman’s activities during the previous fiscal year, lawyer Shōzō Mitō, along with other Ombudsman officials, submitted a report to Kazufumi Onishi on the 4th. The number of complaints filed was 36 cases, the lowest since fiscal year 2012. Mitō commented, “It may be that, through staff training and other efforts, the way municipal employees respond to residents has become more careful and considerate.”