Category: Disability

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 27, 2025 1
Coronavirus COVID-19 Disability Japan

Doctors denounce continued COVID restrictions at Japan’s hospitals

For families who want to see hospitalized loved ones, Japan appears to be stuck in time. Hospital websites continue to post “COVID-19” bulletins about visitations such as requiring masks and temperature checks, setting time limits and restricting the number of visitors. Now a group of physicians and social workers is demanding the restrictions be abolished or curbed, calling them a violation of human rights. “It’s unthinkable to me that they’re still this strict,” said a doctor in his 30s from the Tokyo metropolitan area on condition of anonymity, expressing a mixture of surprise and disgust at the continued COVID policies.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 26, 2025 1
Disability Japan Welfare

Secret Re-evaluation of Disability Pension Cases Following Media Reports – Over 1,000 Denials Reviewed by Japan Pension Service

It was learned on the 25th through interviews with involved parties that the Japan Pension Service (JPS) secretly re-evaluated over a thousand cases that had previously been denied disability pension benefits in fiscal 2024, as part of an internal review following media reports. Normally, such cases are not re-evaluated, making this an unusual move.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 26, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Blind Disability Japan Podcast Technology

“We are being left behind”: Visually Impaired People in Japan Struggle with Digitalization [Podcast Episode]

Toyoharu Yoshiizumi (67), head of the information department at the Japan Federation of Organizations of the Visually Impaired (and himself visually impaired), pointed out, “As digitalization progresses, we are being left behind.” He said the increase in unmanned stores is also a concern, saying, “Without store clerks, reasonable consideration cannot be given. I think it is difficult for businesses, but I would like them to improve the environment so that visually impaired people can use the facilities.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 24, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free developmental disabilities Disability Japan Travel

Despite Half of Commuters with Disabilities Experiencing Problems Using Trains in Japan, Only 10% of People with Mental Disabilities Request Reasonable Accommodation

Half of people with mental disabilities or developmental disabilities in Japan have experienced problems using trains, but only 10% have requested reasonable accommodation from train staff, according to a survey conducted by the mental disability group Polke on May 2nd. The revised Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, which will come into force in April 2024, requires private businesses, including trains, to provide reasonable accommodation, but the survey report points out that only 10% of people have requested reasonable accommodation, which is a “very serious problem.” It recommended that training for disabled people’s organizations and train staff to learn together needs to be improved.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 23, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Podcast Welfare

As Denial of Disability Pensions in Japan Double, Health Ministry Will “investigate the actual situation and make it public” [Podcast Episode]

Japan’s Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takamaro Fukuoka announced that he will investigate the actual situation and make the results public in one month. The incident began with a Kyodo News report dated April 28th. The report stated that the number of people who were denied disability pensions in fiscal 2024 is more than double the number in fiscal 2023, reaching about 30,000. It has also been mentioned that the requirements have become stricter since the director of the Japan Pension Service Disability Pension Center was replaced in October 2023, and that centre staff may be inducing doctors to deny pensions.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 22, 2025 1
Disability Japan Welfare

Doubts over doubling of disability pension denials: Minister Fukuoka will “investigate the actual situation and make it public”

Reports that the number of people who applied for disability pensions and were denied in fiscal year 2024 are causing a stir. For disabled people with low incomes, whether they can receive the pension or not is a matter of life and death, and several disability groups have issued statements expressing doubts and concerns, such as “this cannot be overlooked” and “this will greatly shake trust in the system.” The issue has also been raised in the Diet, and Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takamaro Fukuoka announced that he will investigate the actual situation and make the results public in one month. The incident began with a Kyodo News report dated April 28th. The report stated that the number of people who were denied disability pensions in fiscal 2024 is more than double the number in fiscal 2023, reaching about 30,000. It has also been mentioned that the requirements have become stricter since the director of the Japan Pension Service Disability Pension Center was replaced in October 2023, and that center staff may be inducing doctors to deny pensions.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 21, 2025 Number of comments0
Coronavirus COVID-19 Disability Education Japan

Japanese students abroad up 1.5-fold post COVID-19 pandemic

The number of Japanese students who studied abroad in the fiscal year through March 2024 rose 1.5-fold from the previous year to 89,179 following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent survey by a public organization. But the survey conducted by the Japan Student Services Organization also showed that the total was about 26,000 fewer than the peak in the year from April 2018, the highest since comparable data became available in fiscal 2009.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 19, 2025 1
Disability Entertainment Intellectual disabilities Japan

“Your intelligence stopped at the third grade of elementary school” Sapporo rapper (28) with an intellectual disability writes about “the sadness of living as a disabled person”

“Your intelligence stopped at the third grade of elementary school” — the rapper and comedian from ‘Sapporo’s Gag Man’ from Sapporo, (28), was told these shocking words by a teacher in the summer of his first year of junior high school. He was diagnosed with intellectual disability and panic disorder. How did his life change after his disability was discovered? Here is an excerpt from his new book, “Not Normal: Why I’m a Rapper, Even though My Intelligence Stopped in Third Grade” (Saitosha)

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 19, 2025 Number of comments0
Blind Crime Disability Japan Podcast Relationships

Japan’s Disability Dating App Scammers: Man with Visual Impairment Speaks Out [Podcast Episode] 

In the wake of three employees being arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for luring a man they met through a matching app to a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, forcing him to pay 1.1 million yen in cash and other charges in a scam; a man in his 20s who was a victim of the “rip-off” scam by the recently arrested group spoke to NHK. The man has a level two visual impairment and usually uses a white cane when walking outside.