Category: Japan

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 13, 2025 Number of comments0
Assisted Reproduction Birth Rate Japan

Tokyo to Offer Up to 100,000 Yen for Painless Delivery

The Tokyo metropolitan government will provide up to 100,000 yen in subsidies from October to residents of Tokyo who opt for painless deliveries, Governor Yuriko Koike has said. “The Tokyo metropolitan government will lead efforts to realize a society where people can have and raise children without worry,” Koike told reporters on Saturday. It will be the country’s first program to subsidize the cost of painless childbirths at the prefecture level.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 13, 2025 Number of comments0
Care Children Day Care Service Disability Japan Podcast

Japan’s parents of children with disabilities face “18-year-old wall”, forced to quit jobs to care for children [Podcast Episode]

The Association of Parents Who Work While Raising Children with Disabilities and Children with Medical Care held a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on December 17, 2024. When children turn 18 and graduate from special-needs schools, they can no longer receive after-school day care services, which are available until around 6 pm. The majority of these services end around 3:00 p.m., forcing parents to leave their jobs to watch over and care for their children. Some parents refer to this the “18-year-old barrier”.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 12, 2025 Number of comments0
Infectious Diseases Influenza Japan

Bird Flu Spreads in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture

A series of avian influenza outbreaks has hit poultry farms in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi, where the prefectural government announced newly confirmed infections for the second straight day Friday. The prefecture confirmed infections of highly pathogenic bird flu at two poultry farms in the city of Tokoname. About 177,000 laying hens raised at the two locations will be culled.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 11, 2025 Number of comments0
Care Disability Intellectual disabilities Japan Welfare

Parents of children with disabilities in Japan face “18-year-old wall”, forced to quit jobs to care for children

The Association of Parents Who Work While Raising Children with Disabilities and Children with Medical Care held a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on December 17, 2024. When children turn 18 and graduate from special-needs schools, they can no longer receive after-school day care services, which are available until around 6 pm. The majority of these services end around 3:00 p.m., forcing parents to leave their jobs to watch over and care for their children. Some parents refer to this the “18-year-old barrier”.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 10, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Infectious Diseases Influenza Japan

Japan’s new flu cases hit record high in late December 2024

The number of influenza patients reported at designated medical institutions across Japan at the end of the year hit the highest level since comparable data became available in 1999, the Japanese government said Friday. It marked the 10th consecutive week of increase and a 1.51-fold rise from the week prior, and there were shortages of some of the medications used to treat influenza.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 10, 2025 1
Barrier Free Disability Japan Media NHK

NHK’s Disability TV Show “Baribara” to End in March after 15 years on Air [Podcast Episode]

On January 7th, it was announced on the official website that NHK Educational TV’s barrier-free variety show “Baribara” (broadcast on Thursdays 8pm) will end in March.
The production team of the show announced, “Baribara, which has been broadcast with the aim of eliminating ‘barriers’ for ‘all minorities who have difficulty living’, will end in March this year.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 9, 2025 Number of comments0
Children Crime Japan

Arrested man faces murder charge over Japan McDonald’s stabbings

A 43-year-old man arrested over the stabbing of a boy at a McDonald’s restaurant in southwestern Japan last month was newly charged on Thursday 9th January with the murder of a 15-year-old girl who was also a victim of the attack, police said. The arrested man told the police he targeted the pair for a specific reason, and the attacks were not random, adding that the victims are “not at fault.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 8, 2025 Number of comments0
2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake Care Disability Earthquake Elderly Japan

Ishikawa Prefecture Investigates Deaths of Elderly from “indirect causes” One Year After Noto Earthquake [Podcast Episode]

Concerns have been raised about the deaths of elderly people who died of “indirect causes” after they were evacuated, dying at care facilities. Jiji Press reported that as of Wednesday 25th December 2024 that “22 of 176 elderly evacuees from Ishikawa had died at elderly care facilities or elsewhere in Toyama, according to the Toyama Prefectural Government. In Aichi, 16 of 68 such evacuees died at care facilities or hospitals.