Category: Japan

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 29, 2025 1
Disability Japan Welfare

Japan Pension Service Officials Discarded Doctors’ Disability Assessments

It was revealed on the 28th through interviews with stakeholders that the Japan Pension Service, which handles the administration of national disability pensions, has been secretly discarding evaluation records and requesting new rulings from different doctors whenever staff members deemed the original doctor’s decision on benefit eligibility to be “problematic.” The Pension Service admitted to this practice during interviews, stating they are “currently investigating the facts, including the number of cases involved.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 28, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Education Japan

“Left neglected,” “following precedent”, Japan’s education ministry apologizes for excluding disabled

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.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 27, 2025 Number of comments0
Deaf Disability Japan Sign Language

Japan Cabinet Office Posts Unsubstantiated Video, Deletes It After Social Media Backlash

An awareness-raising video released by the Cabinet Office to coincide with this year’s Disability Awareness Week (December 3–9), the government introduced claims, without scientific evidence, that sign language leads to brain activation and improved memory. The video was removed after a wave of criticism on social media, where many said it showed a lack of understanding that sign language is an indispensable means of communication for people who are deaf. Immediately after the video was released on the 3rd, criticism spread on social media, with comments such as “there is a lack of recognition that sign language is a ‘language’ for deaf people” and “this is from an able-bodied perspective.” The Cabinet Office withdrew the video on the 5th.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 26, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Immigration Japan Podcast

‘Unboxing’ Proposed New Japanese Visa Requirements on Boxing Day [Podcast Episode]

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering adding Japanese language proficiency as a requirement for permanent residency for foreigners, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. To obtain the status, foreigners will also be mandated to take a program aimed at helping them smoothly integrate into local communities, the sources said. The envisaged new requirements will be included in a draft package of proposals on policy for foreign nationals, to be compiled next month for submission to the government.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Welfare

Japan’s Welfare Ministry to Reduce Disability Reimbursement for 4 Services, Including Type B, Limited to New Facilities

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has decided on a policy to make an extraordinary revision to disability service fees in June 2026, under which the basic remuneration for newly established providers of four services, including Continuous Employment Support (Type B), will be reduced for fiscal year 2026 only. Existing providers will continue to receive the current basic remuneration.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Japan Medical Politics

Japanese Ministers Agree to Raise Medical Service Fees

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and health minister Kenichiro Ueno agreed Wednesday to raise medical service fees by 2.22 pct for a fiscal 2026 review. The two ministers agreed to increase the main portion of the fees, which mainly cover labor costs for medical workers, by an annual average of 3.09 pct over the two years from the fiscal year starting next April, while lowering official drug prices by 0.87 pct.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 24, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Podcast Welfare

Two Years After Japan’s Anti-Disability Discrimination Law Revision, Mixed Progress Perceived on ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ [Podcast Episode]

Nearly two years after Japan’s revised Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities made the provision of “reasonable accommodation” mandatory for private businesses, progress remains uneven. While some companies in Okayama Prefecture have introduced measures such as sign-language captions, communication apps, Braille menus, and barrier-free design, people with disabilities say daily experiences have changed little.