Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management Co. has increased its equity stake in Japan’s Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co., rocked by a high-profile health hazard scandal over its supplements containing “beni koji” red fermented rice, according to a share transaction report.
Last year, 4,641 people with disabilities were abused by family members or staff at welfare facilities for the disabled, the highest number ever. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, last year, there were 3,477 cases of abuse of people with disabilities in local governments nationwide, and 4,641 people were abused, both of which are the highest numbers since statistics began being collected in 2012.
Japanese Princess Aiko has been diagnosed with influenza, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday. The 23-year-old princess, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, canceled her planned participation in an event to celebrate the 91st birthday of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, held at his residence in Tokyo’s Minato Ward the same day.
The central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka logged the longest estimated average healthy life expectancy for both men and women as of 2022, at 73.75 and 76.68 years respectively, the health ministry said Tuesday. Meanwhile, Iwate Prefecture ranked bottom among the nation’s 47 prefectures for both men and women, at 70.93 and 74.28 years.
According to the Tokyo Labor Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as of June 1st of this year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education had 985.5 disabled people employed, which is calculated by counting the number of disabled people per person depending on the degree of disability and working hours, and the actual employment rate was 1.95%. This is below the legal employment rate of 2.7% based on the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act, and the national government has requested the Board of Education to increase employment of disabled people, including by providing guidance.
The number of office closures will be at least 16 in total in six prefectures, and the number of disabled people fired or retired is expected to reach about 300. This is an unusual scale for a single business operator, and in some cases, users have rebelled against the sudden closures. The company in question is “MOON” in Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture.
On December 21st, the Miyazaki Higher Brain Dysfunction Disorder Family Association Akari (Chairman Tobita Hiroshi), made up of families of people with higher brain dysfunction in Miyazaki Prefecture, held its first street campaign promoting the wearing of bicycle helmets at an intersection in front of a department store in Miyazaki City.
The Japanese government plans to reduce the official prices for nearly half of all drugs under the public health insurance program in its fiscal 2025 revision, informed sources said Friday. This is expected to cut national medical expenses by some 250 billion yen, alleviating burdens on patients while squeezing the pharmaceutical industry.
In the style of all the ‘big beasts’ of social media, I thought ‘Barrier Free Japan’ should do a ‘Wrap-up’ at the end of 2024.
A Japanese government survey showed on Friday 20th December that 78.2 pct of respondents feel anxious or worried, the highest level since the government began asking about such sentiment in the annual survey in 1981. The public opinion survey on people’s lives by the Cabinet Office also found that 28.1 pct of respondents think that their standard of living is in the lower middle part of the general public, the highest level in 35 years, while 46.7 pct answered middle, 14.2 pct upper middle, 8.7 pct low and 1.7 pct high. People worry most about their own health, cited by 63.8 pct of all respondents, followed by plans for life after retirement, picked by 62.8 pct, and the outlook for future income and assets, chosen by 58.0 pct.
Barrier Free Japan