Akemashite Omedetou, Happy New Year from Japan! Nagasaki Prefecture reported a record 3,961 people with disabilities employed at private companies as of June 1, 2025, up 125 from the previous year, according to figures released by the Nagasaki Labour Bureau on Dec. 19, so we begin 2026 with good news about disability in Japan.
People with disabilities in Hyogo Prefecture will hold an emergency rally in Kobe on January 24th to protest violence at residential care facilities and to call for the early realization of deinstitutionalization. The gathering was prompted by reports that a resident with intellectual and physical disabilities died after being assaulted by staff at a facility in Sanda City. Organized by the Independent Living Center ‘Ring Ring’ and co-hosted by ‘Remember 7.26 Kobe Action’, the event will feature speakers from ‘Hyogo People First’ and will focus on disability rights and the need for community-based living.
A Japanese member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has criticized the United Nations for failing to provide adequate sign language interpretation, saying it is not complying with its own disability rights convention. Hiroshi Tamon, a deaf lawyer who began a four-year term on the committee in January 2025, says interpretation is provided only for official meetings, forcing him to pay most costs himself for other essential activities. Japan’s Foreign Ministry has raised the issue with the UN, calling it a “grave issue.”
It was revealed on December 28th through interviews with stakeholders that the Japan Pension Service, which handles the administration of national disability pensions, has been secretly discarding evaluation records and requesting new rulings from different doctors whenever staff members deemed the original doctor’s decision on benefit eligibility to be “problematic.” The Pension Service admitted to this practice during interviews, stating they are “currently investigating the facts, including the number of cases involved.”
Of the 3,142 facilities surveyed from August to October, 84.2 percent said they are facing staff shortages ranging from severe to slight, with many citing increased burdens on workers and declining service quality as a result, Kyosaren said.
Nagasaki Prefecture reported a record 3,961 people with disabilities employed at private companies as of June 1, 2025, up 125 from the previous year, according to figures released by the Nagasaki Labour Bureau on Dec. 19. The prefecture’s disabled employment rate stood at 2.84 percent, 0.43 percentage points above the national average and the fifth highest in the country. The share of companies meeting the government-mandated statutory employment rate of 2.5 percent rose to 58.2 percent, up 0.8 points from a year earlier. By industry, employment was highest in medical and welfare services at 3.56 percent, followed by compound services and lifestyle-related services and entertainment.
Cases of abuse against people with disabilities in Japan reached a record high of 3,770 in fiscal 2024, the welfare ministry said Tuesday 23rd December, citing an increase in consultations and reports to local governments. The total, confirmed by prefectural and municipal authorities, rose by 293 from the previous year, the ministry said.
It was revealed on the 28th through interviews with stakeholders that the Japan Pension Service, which handles the administration of national disability pensions, has been secretly discarding evaluation records and requesting new rulings from different doctors whenever staff members deemed the original doctor’s decision on benefit eligibility to be “problematic.” The Pension Service admitted to this practice during interviews, stating they are “currently investigating the facts, including the number of cases involved.”
Saying the practice “left neglected without due consideration” and a case of “following precedent,” the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology expressed remorse for long excluding graduates of special needs schools from the School Basic Survey, saying the practice dates back at least to the 1970s, though a review based on interviews with 1980s-era officials failed to clarify how the method was adopted. Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto apologized publicly, bowing before cameras, as the ministry moved to swiftly revise the survey within a month of the issue surfacing amid anger from those affected.
An awareness-raising video released by the Cabinet Office to coincide with this year’s Disability Awareness Week (December 3–9), the government introduced claims, without scientific evidence, that sign language leads to brain activation and improved memory. The video was removed after a wave of criticism on social media, where many said it showed a lack of understanding that sign language is an indispensable means of communication for people who are deaf. Immediately after the video was released on the 3rd, criticism spread on social media, with comments such as “there is a lack of recognition that sign language is a ‘language’ for deaf people” and “this is from an able-bodied perspective.” The Cabinet Office withdrew the video on the 5th.
Barrier Free Japan