To promote social participation for people with disabilities, the Yamanashi prefectural government held a fashion show at Aeon Mall Kofu Showa in the town of Showa in the prefecture, featuring both professional models and models with disabilities.
On the afternoon of the 16th, a man in his 50s was found collapsed in Itami City, Hyōgo Prefecture, and was transported to a hospital, where he was later confirmed dead. According to police, at the time there was a communication outage affecting NTT West, and it is believed that the emergency call was delayed. However, it is not known whether this was directly related to the man’s death.
Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) on Wednesday compiled a proposal for policy measures on foreign people, featuring a plan to set an upper limit on the proportion of foreigners in Japan’s total population.
Yasuhiko Funago, a former House of Councilors lawmaker with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, called on politicians to guarantee the right to “live until the end,” in a recent written interview. The retired lawmaker of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an opposition party, served one six-year term in the Upper House before deciding not to seek re-election in this July’s election.
Yasuhiko Funago, a former House of Councilors lawmaker with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, called on politicians to guarantee the right to “live until the end,” in a recent written interview.
The retired lawmaker of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an opposition party, served one six-year term in the Upper House before deciding not to seek re-election in this July’s election.
Saou Ichikawa was born in 1979. Diagnosed in childhood with congenital myopathy, a rare disease that causes muscle weakness, and has used a ventilator since age 14. Graduated in March 2023 from Waseda University’s School of Human Sciences correspondence program. Her thesis “The Reciprocal Influence Between the Representation of Disabled People and Real Society” won the Ono Azusa Memorial Academic Prize. Her debut novel “Hunchback” won the 169th Akutagawa Prize in July 2023. Her most recent book, to be published in September 2025 is “A Girl’s Spine”.
“Coexistence” is a word used in a variety of contexts, including the global environment, living things, and different cultures, but as a simple search for “coexistence society” reveals, in Japan it is a word that should primarily be used to consider the inclusion of people with disabilities. Japan, in particular, is the country where the horrific Sagamihara Massacre, a mass murder of disabled people, took place. If the meaning and obligation of using the word “symbiosis” in our country since that incident never crossed the minds of the planners and approvers of the Asahi Earth Conference 2024, then beyond feeling disappointed, I’m left with the suspicion that some more serious issue lies between “me” and you. By “me,” I mean Ichikawa Saou, a citizen, a person with a disability, and a subscriber to the Asahi Shimbun Digital newspaper.
One in three sexual assaults against people with disabilities were committed by carers or other support staff, a Justice Ministry survey has found. The report, covering cases from 2018 to 2022, said 74 percent of victims had intellectual disabilities, including moderate, severe and mild cases, while 19 percent had developmental disabilities. Only 36.5 percent of victims with intellectual disabilities recognized they were being abused, and more than a third never reported the assaults. The ministry called for measures such as installing cameras in facilities and reducing one-on-one contact between carers and disabled individuals.
Japanese companies are tackling the difficult task of hiring more disabled people as the statutory minimum employment rate for the disabled will be lifted to 2.7 pct next July from 2.5 pct at present. While the labor market is favorable for job seekers, companies are required to follow a thorough selection process that takes into account traits of each candidate.
A 38-year-old woman with disabilities died after suffering severe burns while bathing at the Hitakami-en facility in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, police revealed. Kana Abe developed extensive skin damage following staff-assisted bathing in 2022, and later died in hospital from respiratory failure caused by burns covering 60 percent of her body. A facility report suggested the bathwater temperature was about 50 degrees Celsius. Police are investigating the incident on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death after Abe’s family sued the facility in February 2025 and the police are investigating two people who were in charge at the time, along with the person responsible for the site.
Barrier Free Japan