Miyazaki City has revoked the designation of service provider ‘Porto’ that supports preschool children with disabilities after it was found to have fraudulently received approximately 14 million yen in benefits from the city.
In an accident in March 2025 at the “Prefectural Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center,” a residential facility for children with disabilities in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, a resident (then 14) fell from a stretcher, suffered fractures, and later died. On the 23rd, the prefectural government released the results of its investigation. As to causes, it pointed to failures to thoroughly ensure safety, including in the operation of equipment, as well as a lack of shared caregiving methods tailored to each resident.
Referring to “the case in which a mother killed her daughter with a severe disability,” Noburo Takachi mentioned the incident that occurred in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture. He noted that many opinions online say “the mother cannot be blamed,” creating an atmosphere suggesting it was unavoidable, referring to comments circulating on social media about the suspect.
A male leukemia patient between 10 and 19 died and two other young male patients are unconscious after spinal injections of anticancer drugs at a hospital in the city of Saitama, near Tokyo, hospital officials have said. The Saitama Prefectural Children’s Medical Center is consulting police in view of the possibility that the incident resulted from a criminal or accidental cause, the officials said Wednesday. Of the three patients, one died in February, while a boy under 10 and the other patient, who is between 10 and 19, are in critical condition.
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.”
Police in Mobara have arrested a 58-year-old woman on suspicion of drowning her 29-year-old severely disabled daughter at their home, those familiar with matter have said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Barrier Free Japan