Category: Disasters

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 12, 2026 Number of comments0
Children developmental disabilities Disability Disasters Earthquake Japan Kumamoto Podcast Typhoon

Children with Disabilities Offered Places to Feel at Ease in Quake-Hit Kumamoto [Podcast Episode]

Efforts are underway in Kumamoto Prefecture to provide children with developmental and intellectual disabilities with places to stay during the day and relieve stress, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture late last month. At Asobi Studio Uki, an after-school daycare service facility in the city of Uki, the voices of elementary and junior high school students echoed through the building Friday. Some children relaxed by lying on balance balls, while others had their hair tied by staff members. During a game of team ball-toss, a boy on the losing team asked a staff member for another round.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 10, 2026 1
developmental disabilities Disability Disasters Earthquake Intellectual disabilities Japan Kumamoto

Children with Disabilities Offered Places to Feel at Ease in Quake-Hit Kumamoto

Efforts are underway in Kumamoto Prefecture to provide children with developmental and intellectual disabilities with places to stay during the day and relieve stress, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture late last month. At Asobi Studio Uki, an after-school daycare service facility in the city of Uki, the voices of elementary and junior high school students echoed through the building Friday. Some children relaxed by lying on balance balls, while others had their hair tied by staff members. During a game of team ball-toss, a boy on the losing team asked a staff member for another round.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 5, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Disasters Earthquake Group Homes (GH) Japan Podcast Welfare

More than 20,000 People with Disabilities in Japan Waiting for Care Facilities Across 30 Prefectures, Kumamoto quake updates [Podcast Episode]

At least 20,000 people with disabilities across 30 prefectures are waiting to enter residential care facilities or group homes (GHs) despite wishing to use them, a nationwide survey by Kyodo News found on Aug. 2. Seventeen prefectures said they either did not track waiting lists or did not disclose the figures, citing reasons such as the lack of a standardized method for compiling the data.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 4, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Disasters Earthquake Japan Kumamoto Podcast

Update One Week After Kumamoto Earthquake [Podcast Episode]

As of Monday 3rd August, 38 people have died, 278 disability care homes were ‘affected’ and some ‘disaster-related deaths’ have sadly occurred. A total of 278 disability care facilities in Kumamoto Prefecture have been affected by the powerful earthquake that struck the region earlier this week, Kyodo reported on July 31, citing the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry. A woman in her 70s died while sleeping in a car, apparently from heatstroke. Her death was judged potentially to be disaster-related, with the physical and mental strain of life as an evacuee among the possible causes.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 3, 2026 1
Disability Disasters Earthquake Japan Kumamoto

Death Toll from Kumamoto Quake Rises to 38

The death toll from Tuesday’s powerful earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has risen to 38 as two more deaths have been confirmed, the prefectural disaster response headquarters said Sunday. A woman in her 70s died while sleeping in a car, apparently from heatstroke. Her death was judged potentially to be disaster-related, with the physical and mental strain of life as an evacuee among the possible causes.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 1, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Disasters Japan Podcast Typhoon

Tropical Storm ‘Jangmi’ set to lash wide area of Japan [Podcast Episode]

Tropical Storm ‘Jangmi’, known in Japan as typhoon No. 6, is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds across a swath of the country from Tuesday to Wednesday. The storm is forecast to come closest to Okinawa on Monday night and to the Amami region by Tuesday morning, before moving northeast and approaching the Kyushu, Shikoku, Kinki, Tokai and Kanto-Koshin regions through Wednesday, according to the Meteorological Agency.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 24, 2026 Number of comments0
Abuse Crime Disability Disasters Intellectual disabilities Japan Podcast

Male Radiologist Found Guilty of Molesting Fukuoka Female Student with Intellectual Disabilities During Medical Exam [Podcast Episode]

In a retrial at the Fukuoka District Court on the 20th, Presiding Judge Shinichi Suzushima sentenced a 44-year-old male radiological technologist to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years.The man had been charged with quasi-forcible indecency for touching the chest of a female student with intellectual disabilities during a 2018 medical check-up at a high school in Fukuoka Prefecture. Judge Suzushima upheld the credibility of the student’s testimony, describing the act as a “despicable crime that exploited his professional position.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 20, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Disasters Earthquake Japan Tsunami

7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northeastern Japan, Tsunami Warnings Issued [Podcast Episode]

A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, and triggering tsunami warnings. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the tremor occurred at around 4:52 p.m. off the Sanriku Pacific coastal area of northeastern Japan, with upper 5 seismic intensity observed in the town of Hashikami in Aomori Prefecture. The quake had an estimated magnitude of 7.7 and occurred at a depth of about 10 kilometres.