Japan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday awarded damages to victims of forced sterilizations under the now-defunct eugenic protection law. The top court’s Grand Bench, presided over by Chief Justice Saburo Tokura, decided not to apply the 20-year statute of limitation for damages claims, a focal point of the case, effectively handing victory to the plaintiffs.
The cumulative number of people hospitalized in relation to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplements containing “beni koji” red fermented rice had reached 492 as of Sunday, Japan’s health ministry said Tuesday.
The move comes as the number of organs provided from brain-dead donors increases. It also follows a recent survey that found medical institutions had declined 16 heart donations from such donors in 2023 due to a shortage of manpower and hospital beds. The number of medical facilities capable of performing heart transplants will increase to 14 nationwide after the hospitals at three national universities — Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Okayama University and Ehime University — are approved to perform such operations.
The death toll from the January 1st Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan is projected to reach 300 as 18 more indirect deaths are expected to be recognized. On Tuesday, the Ishikawa prefectural government and affected municipalities held a joint meeting and were advised to recognize 18 deaths as related to the disaster.
On July 3, the Supreme Court will hand down its decision on a lawsuit in which victims have demanded compensation from the government, claiming that forced sterilization under the former Eugenic Protection Law was in violation of the Constitution.
SoftBank Group Corp. said Thursday it will launch a service by the end of this year that suggests appropriate cancer treatment by analyzing genetic information and other health care data using artificial intelligence.
Gunma Prefecture has announced that it has imposed administrative sanctions on two facilities in Shibukawa City and Isesaki City, prohibiting new users from accepting new users for six months from last month, in response to the issue of excessive food fees being collected from users at facilities operated by “Megumi,” a management company that operates group homes for people with disabilities throughout the country, including Gunma.
Japan’s welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for all of its group homes for disabled people. The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people and the decision was made to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.
Japan’s welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for all of its group homes for disabled people.
The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people and the decision was made to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.
Japan is a country of some 125.1 million people, approximately 13.96 million of whom live in Tokyo. Space is at a premium, so where there is space it will be used, even if; as Taro Igarashi, a professor of architectural history and theory at the graduate school of Tohoku University points out, how it is used excludes vulnerable members of society.
Barrier Free Japan