Category: Children

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 10, 2026 Number of comments0
Children Crime Disability Japan Podcast

Chiba Mother Arrested Over Alleged Drowning Death of Disabled Daughter [Podcast Episode]

A mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing her daughter by drowning her face in water at a home in Mobara City, Chiba Prefecture. The suspect (58) is suspected of killing her daughter Kana (29) by holding her head against a container filled with water at her home in Mobara City on the 8th. Kana was severely disabled and bedridden, and the mother reportedly admitted to the charges, saying, “I intended to kill myself, too.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 5, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Welfare Podcast Children Care

Hiroshima Revokes Designation of 7 Facilities for Disabled Children; Fraudulent Claims Affect 214 [Podcast Episode]

Hiroshima Prefecture announced on Feb. 27 that it will revoke the designation of four facilities in Etajima City, including “Popo Etajima,” which serve children with disabilities. The revocation, due to fraudulent claims by the operator, will take effect on April 1. The city of Kure also announced it will take similar action against three facilities in the city operated by the same company. The total amount of fraudulent claims is about 260 million yen, affecting 214 children. As they will no longer be able to use the services from April 1, the prefectural government and other authorities are coordinating alternative placements.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 4, 2026 1
Care Children Disability Japan Welfare

Hiroshima Revokes Designation of 7 Facilities for Disabled Children; Fraudulent Claims Affect 214

Hiroshima Prefecture announced on Feb. 27 that it will revoke the designation of four facilities in Etajima City, including “Popo Etajima,” which serve children with disabilities. The revocation, due to fraudulent claims by the operator, will take effect on April 1. The city of Kure also announced it will take similar action against three facilities in the city operated by the same company. The total amount of fraudulent claims is about 260 million yen, affecting 214 children. As they will no longer be able to use the services from April 1, the prefectural government and other authorities are coordinating alternative placements.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 31, 2026 Number of comments0
Children Japan Mental Health

Japan Forms Group to Protect Juveniles from Social Media Issues

Japan’s Children and Families Agency has set up a working group to discuss possible regulation of social media services to prevent juveniles from being caught up in problems via the internet. The group will mull measures while taking into account a revision of the law to improve the environment for young people’s safe and secure internet use, which restricts the browsing of harmful information by such people. The group, expected to release an interim report in July, will have opportunities to exchange opinions with junior and senior high school students.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 30, 2026 Number of comments0
Children Disability Japan Mental Health

Suicides in Japan Fall below 20,000 for 1st Time in 2025, Students Reach Record High

The number of people who died by suicide in Japan in 2025 came to 19,097, standing below 20,000 for the first time since the statistics began in 1978, preliminary government data showed Thursday.  Suicides among elementary, junior high and senior high school students came to 532, hitting a record high for the second straight year since comparable data became available in 1980.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 29, 2026 Number of comments0
Children Crime Disability Japan Pregnancy

Prosecutors Amend Indictment in Fatal Crash Involving Pregnant Woman, Stops Short of Injury Charge for Fetus

At the second hearing on Jan. 26 at the Ichinomiya branch of the Nagoya District Court, prosecutors amended the indictment in a fatal traffic accident case involving a pregnant woman to include harm caused to the fetus, while declining to apply a separate charge of negligent driving resulting in injury to the child. The husband of the victim, Yudai Togitani, who lost his wife and whose daughter was left with severe disabilities, said the grief of losing his wife and the anger over having his daughter’s future taken away have remained unchanged since the accident, adding that he could not accept that his daughter was not treated as a victim when her name was initially omitted from the indictment.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 22, 2025 Number of comments0
Children Disability Japan Welfare

Japan to Provide Child-Rearing Support Allowance of 20,000 Yen per Child

The Japanese government will provide all households with children aged zero to 18 with a support allowance of 20,000 yen per child as a one-time measure, the Children and Families Agency said Friday. Also, to support low-income households raising children, including single-parent families, the government will expand the menu of an existing priority support local grant program so that municipalities can utilize it to provide cash benefits in addition to the new support allowance.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 18, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Care Children Disability Group Homes (GH) Japan

90% of Families of People with Disabilities in Japan “Worried” About Life After Parents’ Death

A recent survey by a private organization has revealed widespread anxiety among families of adults with disabilities in Japan, with 90.2% expressing worry about their loved one’s life after the parents pass away, and 58.2% reporting they are reaching the limits of providing care.