The former officer, Masato Takeuchi, and another suspect arrested over the case, 55-year-old company employee Hiromi Ishichi, are apparently denying the allegations. The Deaflympics officially opened Saturday in Tokyo, marking the first time Japan has hosted the international sporting event for the deaf or hard of hearing.
The former officer, Masato Takeuchi, and another suspect arrested over the case, 55-year-old company employee Hiromi Ishichi, are apparently denying the allegations. Takeuchi is a board member of a Kyoto-based group, mainly comprising former police officers, that provides daily assistance to elderly people with dementia. The police believe the two suspects withdrew several million yen in cash using the victim’s card.
A Japanese government survey showed Friday that 75.8 pct of the respondents are unaware of the enactment of the country’s basic law on dementia. The result of the public opinion survey by the Cabinet Office revealed that public awareness in Japan remains low even more than a year and a half after the law’s enforcement in January 2024. Of the respondents, 16.4 pct said they are aware of the law’s enactment but do not know its content, while 4.5 pct and 1.0 pct said they know its content “to some extent” and “in detail,” respectively.
Abnormal tau protein causing dementia accumulates in the brains of middle- to old-age patients with mood disorders, such as depression, at a higher rate than in their healthy counterparts, a study has found. The study, led by Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, or QST, is expected to lead to early detection and treatments based on objective diagnoses of dementia, because the cognitive functions of participating patients were normal at the time of analysis.
In Japan, a growing number of people with dementia are going missing each year, with many tragically found dead close to where they disappeared—491 in 2024 alone. Efforts to prevent such outcomes include the promotion of GPS tracking devices and the introduction of an orange “dementia help mark,” designed to alert others that the wearer may need assistance. Despite these initiatives, individual cases like that of Yasuko Arakawa—a woman with rare semantic dementia who vanished in 2023 and remains missing—highlight the emotional toll on families and the urgent need for greater public awareness, early intervention, and nationwide support systems in a rapidly aging society.
In Japan, a growing number of people with dementia are going missing each year, with many tragically found dead close to where they disappeared—491 in 2024 alone. Efforts to prevent such outcomes include the promotion of GPS tracking devices and the introduction of an orange “dementia help mark,” designed to alert others that the wearer may need assistance. Despite these initiatives, individual cases like that of Yasuko Arakawa—a woman with rare semantic dementia who vanished in 2023 and remains missing—highlight the emotional toll on families and the urgent need for greater public awareness, early intervention, and nationwide support systems in a rapidly aging society.
The number of people with dementia who were found dead after going missing in Japan totaled 491 in 2024, National Police Agency data have shown.
Of them, 382, or 77.8 pct, were found dead within 5 kilometers of the places where they disappeared, according to the data. About half of the total were discovered within a kilometer. According to the National Police Agency, 18,121 people with dementia and suspected dementia went missing in 2024. Most of them were found within a week after missing person reports were filed.
The loss of a certain immune-regulating protein in the brain leads to a decrease in the levels of amyloid beta, which causes Alzheimer’s disease, and improves cognitive function, a group of researchers including from Kyoto University has found. The group confirmed that the TIM-3 protein, which exists in microglia, a type of immune cell in the brain, increases as the brain ages. When it removed the protein from a mouse with Alzheimer’s disease by genetic modification, the accumulation of amyloid beta decreased by 50 to 60 pct, and the mouse showed an improvement in cognitive function.
Over a year has passed since Yasuko Arakawa, who had been diagnosed with an early-onset type of dementia, disappeared from their home in the western Japan city of Yonago on August 8th 2023. Her husband Tsutomu is desperately seeking any information on her whereabouts.
荒川泰子さんは2023年8月8日、西日本の米子市の自宅から姿を消して以来、早期発症型認知症と診断されていた彼女の行方は、1年以上経ってもわかっていません。夫の勉さんは、彼女の行方に関する情報を必死に求めています。
Over a year has passed since Yasuko Arakawa, who had been diagnosed with an early-onset type of dementia, disappeared from their home in the western Japan city of Yonago on August 8th 2023. Her husband Tsutomu is desperately seeking any information on her whereabouts.
荒川泰子さんは2023年8月8日、西日本の米子市の自宅から姿を消して以来、早期発症型認知症と診断されていた彼女の行方は、1年以上経ってもわかっていません。夫の勉さんは、彼女の行方に関する情報を必死に求めています。
Barrier Free Japan