Ehime Disability Facility Suspended From Accepting New Users for One Year Over Abuse

By Barrier Free Japan

October 3 2026

EHIME – Nippon News Network reported on October 2nd that a disability support facility in Toon, Ehime Prefecture, has been ordered to stop accepting new users for one year after a staff member repeatedly abused a user.

The prefectural government took the administrative action against Tontoko, a specified nonprofit organization that operates the facility, and Tontoko no Sato, a group home for people with disabilities.

According to the prefectural government, an employee who was the facility’s manager at the time repeatedly abused one user from January last year, including shaking and knocking the person down and reprimanding them for prolonged periods.

The prefectural government investigated the case after receiving information from other staff members and confirmed the abuse. The one-year suspension on accepting new users took effect Oct. 1.

The employee involved has since been assigned duties that do not involve contact with users, according to the prefectural government.

Tontoko commented: “We take this situation very seriously and deeply regret what has occurred as an organization. Going forward, we will make every effort to prevent a recurrence and work to restore trust.”

The Ehime Prefectural Government had previously ordered a one-year suspension on the acceptance of new users at a designated disability welfare facility in Tōon City after confirming that the facility’s then-manager repeatedly abused a user. The sanction, imposed under the Act on Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities, took effect January 28th and applies to the group home support facility “Disability Facility Tōon” in the Shitsukawa district. The manager has been dismissed.