Category: Nursing Care

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 19, 2026 Number of comments0
Care Disability Elderly Japan Nursing Care

Japan Mulls Higher Nursing Care Premiums for High-Income Elderly

Japan’s welfare ministry on Friday began considering a plan to raise nursing care insurance premiums for high-income earners aged 65 or older from fiscal 2027. Under the latest proposal, the ministry plans to raise the highest rate, applied to people with annual incomes of 7.2 million yen or more. It also plans to divide lower-income brackets into smaller categories to curb sharp increases in premiums when people move into a higher rate bracket.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 10, 2026 Number of comments0
Care Disability Elderly Japan Nursing Care Welfare

Japan Mulls Easing Nursing-Care Premiums for Missing Elderly People

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has, for the first time, indicated that nursing-care insurance premiums can be fully exempted when elderly people, including those with dementia, go missing and their families continue to be responsible for paying the premiums. The ministry has notified local governments across Japan of this policy.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 3, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Nursing Care Podcast

Sakai District Court Rules Dismissal of Whistleblower Nurse at Disability Facility Invalid [Podcast Episode]

A nurse who worked at a disability support facility in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, filed a lawsuit claiming it was unlawful for the facility to dismiss them after they made a public-interest whistleblower report about problems at the facility. The Sakai branch of the Osaka District Court ruled that the dismissal was invalid, finding that it was intended to remove the nurse from the workplace, and ordered the facility to pay unpaid wages and damages. The court ordered the facility to pay the three plaintiffs a total of more than ¥20 million in unpaid wages, damages, and other compensation.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 31, 2026 1
Abuse Care Disability Japan Nursing Care

Sakai District Court Rules Dismissal of Whistleblower Nurse at Disability Facility Invalid

A nurse who worked at a disability support facility in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, filed a lawsuit claiming it was unlawful for the facility to dismiss them after they made a public-interest whistleblower report about problems at the facility. The Sakai branch of the Osaka District Court ruled that the dismissal was invalid, finding that it was intended to remove the nurse from the workplace, and ordered the facility to pay unpaid wages and damages. The court ordered the facility to pay the three plaintiffs a total of more than ¥20 million in unpaid wages, damages, and other compensation.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 15, 2025 Number of comments0
Education Imperial Family Japan Nursing Care

Princess Aiko Attends Ceremony for Chiba University School of Nursing

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.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt November 12, 2025 Number of comments0
Care Disability Japan Nursing Care

Fiscal Panel Calls for Ability-Based Fees for Care Services

A panel under Japan’s Fiscal System Council, which advises the finance minister, proposed Tuesday that nursing care service fees be charged to users based on their ability to pay, as part of reform on the country’s nursing care insurance program. The proposal comes as nursing care costs are estimated to total 14.3 trillion yen in fiscal 2025, about four times the level in 2000, when the program was established.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt October 28, 2025 Number of comments0
Abuse Elderly Japan Nursing Care

Amid abuse claims, 120,000 are forcibly institutionalized in Japan

Around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 12, 2018, Minoru Eguchi and his wife Tomiko were busy preparing breakfast for residents of the nursing facility they were running in the city of Toyama in central Japan when four men suddenly entered. They placed Minoru in a wrestling hold and began dragging him outside. He screamed for his wife to call police. The men forced Minoru, who was in his late 70s, into a private ambulance and drove off. To his horror, Minoru was being forcibly institutionalized, a procedure applied to tens of thousands of Japanese in a complex system that critics say is rife with abuse and lacking independent oversight.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt October 23, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Elderly Japan Medical Nursing Care Politics

Balancing Medical Services, Costs a Major Challenge for Takaichi

New Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces a difficult challenge in maintaining the quality of the country’s medical and nursing care services while lowering related expenses, amid an aging population. Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), the new coalition partner to Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has called for lowering social security premiums for working people. But this requires reforms that are expected to increase the burden on society, including the elderly, as a whole. Since medical and nursing care services are offered at fixed prices set by the state, many service providers are struggling to cope with rapid inflation and are operating at a loss.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 10, 2025 Number of comments0
2ch Disability Japan Nursing Care Podcast Social Media

‘2channel’ founder opines on why salary of Japanese caregivers doesn’t exceed average annual income [Podcast Episode]

When asked, “I work in nursing care, why don’t wages go up?” Hiroyuki responded bluntly: “They don’t go up because it’s a job paid from taxes.” He added, “I understand that nursing care work is very tough. Let’s set that aside. The reality is that nursing care is work that even people without prior experience can do. Of course, there are skills involved, but fundamentally, it’s a job that can be done by people without experience.”