Structural barriers and entrenched biases continue to limit opportunities for students with disabilities in Japan’s university system, even as legal frameworks and support measures have expanded in recent years, experts say.
The number of students diagnosed with developmental disabilities in Japan is increasing. A key issue is how schools provide support. This report looks at both students struggling with disabilities and efforts by universities.
The number of students diagnosed with developmental disabilities in Japan is increasing. A key issue is how schools provide support. This report looks at both students struggling with disabilities and efforts by universities.
Saying the practice “left neglected without due consideration” and a case of “following precedent,” the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology expressed remorse for long excluding graduates of special needs schools from the School Basic Survey, saying the practice dates back at least to the 1970s, though a review based on interviews with 1980s-era officials failed to clarify how the method was adopted. Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto apologized publicly, bowing before cameras, as the ministry moved to swiftly revise the survey within a month of the issue surfacing amid anger from those affected.
Japanese Princess Aiko on Sunday attended a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Chiba University’s School of Nursing.
“I hope that you will continue to thrive while supporting people, and that you will dedicate your efforts to the further advancement of nursing and nursing science,” the princess, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, said in her speech at the ceremony held at the university in the eastern Japan city of Chiba. Chiba University is the country’s only national university with a nursing department. Some 400 people, including students and university staff, attended the ceremony.
The number of university students with developmental disabilities in Japan is on the rise, with their conditions often identified at a late stage through challenges in their social lives. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, 14,666 students with developmental disabilities were enrolled in universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in the 2024 academic year, approximately five times the number from 10 years ago.
The number of university students with developmental disabilities in Japan is on the rise, with their conditions often identified at a late stage through challenges in their social lives. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, 14,666 students with developmental disabilities were enrolled in universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in the 2024 academic year, approximately five times the number from 10 years ago.
Japanese elementary school teacher Fumiya Kosemura pleaded guilty to charges of sharing child pornography via social media, in the first hearing on his case at Nagoya District Court on Wednesday. The charges are “correct, and I’m very sorry,” said Kosemura, 37, a teacher at a public elementary school in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, who has been indicted for voyeurism and indecent assault. According to the indictment, Kosemura filmed secretly the underwear of a 7-year-old girl at a facility in Kanagawa and shared the video data within the group between January and February this year.
Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have visited a school for people with visual impairment in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan.
The school is the prefecture’s only institution specializing in education for visually impaired students.
The Ministry of Education announced plans to review how tsūkyū shidō—a system that allows students with developmental disabilities to take some lessons in separate rooms while remaining in regular classes—can be better implemented in high schools. While more than 200,000 students nationwide now use tsūkyū shidō, the highest number on record, participation among high school students remains limited. Starting next year, the ministry will designate model schools to study effective teaching methods, expand support with a focus on employment after graduation, and promote awareness of the system. It will also research ways to share information between schools and disability support facilities using ICT, and improve teachers’ understanding of severe behavioral disorders.
Barrier Free Japan