Category: Disability

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 22, 2025 1
ALS Barrier Free Disability Japan Politics Reiwa Shinsengumi

Member of Japan’s House of Councillors with ALS, Yasuhiko Funago Concerned that Reasonable Accommodations in the Diet Mistaken for “giving charity from above”

Yasuhiko Funago (67), a member of the House of Councillors of the Reiwa Shinsengumi, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is severely disabled, attracted a great deal of attention when he was elected for the first time in 2019. About five and a half years have passed since then, and Funago says he feels that the reasonable accommodations being promoted in the Diet for people with disabilities are being mistakenly interpreted as “giving charity from above.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 19, 2025 1
Disability Japan Welfare

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Informs Local Governments of Prohibition on ‘Paid Referrals’ of Disability Welfare Services

By March 17th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had thoroughly informed local governments that it is prohibited for disability welfare service facilities and businesses to pay money or goods to referral companies in return for introducing users to them, as this is a violation of the operating standards. It was originally prohibited to pay referral fees to consultation support specialists who create service usage plans and other disability welfare businesses, but the treatment of the general public and referral companies was unclear, so this was clarified.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Medical

Japan’s Ishiba Admits Fault over Medical Expense Hike Plan

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba admitted his fault Thursday over the government’s unpopular plan to raise the limits on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care. 
   “It was a mistake,” Ishiba told a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Disability Intellectual disabilities Japan Podcast

“Blaming Only the Defendant Would Be Too Harsh”: Chiba Father Given Suspended Sentence for Killing Disabled Son [Podcast Episode]

On March 12th, the Chiba District Court delivered a verdict in the trial of a 78-year-old man accused of murdering his younger son, who had a severe intellectual disability, by strangling him in July last year in Chosei Village, Chiba Prefecture. The court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years (the prosecution had sought a five-year prison term). Presiding Judge Ryuta Asaka noted that “the defendant was in a highly pressured situation, and it would be too harsh to place all the blame on him,” justifying the suspended sentence.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 13, 2025 1
Crime Disability Intellectual disabilities Japan

“Blaming Only the Defendant Would Be Too Harsh”: Chiba Father Given Suspended Sentence for Killing Intellectually Disabled Son

On the 12th, the Chiba District Court delivered a verdict in the trial of a 78-year-old man accused of murdering his younger son, who had a severe intellectual disability, by strangling him in July last year in Chosei Village, Chiba Prefecture. The court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years (the prosecution had sought a five-year prison term). Presiding Judge Ryuta Asaka noted that “the defendant was in a highly pressured situation, and it would be too harsh to place all the blame on him,” justifying the suspended sentence.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 11, 2025 Number of comments0
Bullet train Disability Japan Mental Health Shinkansen

All Tohoku Shinkansen services halted after person hit by train

All bullet train services on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line in northeast Japan were halted for around two hours on Monday after a person entered the tracks and was hit by a train, the operator said, days after the decoupling of cars on a train led to a disruption of services that still continues. JR East said a person intruded onto the tracks in the morning, with police suspecting that the individual climbed over a fence to commit suicide. While local train services in Japan are sometimes affected by suicides, shinkansen services are rarely halted.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 7, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Education Intellectual disabilities Japan Podcast

Intellectually Disabled Girl Has to Move from Chiba to Tokyo to Attend High School [Podcast Episode]

In August 2024, Ms. Koyuki Hamano, 16, an intellectually disabled girl who was a resident of Chiba City, was rejected from the Chiba prefectural high school entrance examination, and asked the prefectural government to cancel her rejection, the Chiba District Court rejected her request to be provisionally obligated to enroll in the school. On February 4, Hamano’s parents held a press conference in the city and announced that they have given up on the idea of continuing her education in the prefecture, terminated the trial, and that she will enroll in a Tokyo metropolitan high school from April.