When an advocacy group for people with mental and developmental disabilities conducted a survey on employment, over 60% of respondents reported having experience with “closed employment” – working without disclosing their disability. Many cited the reason for non-disclosure as “feeling that it would lead to employment disadvantages such as dismissal or contract non-renewal.”
Novel Alzheimer’s therapies have been given to 19 pct of outpatients who applied for the medications, according to a recent survey at a Tokyo hospital. The lecanemab and donanemab therapies for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients are now clinically available under Japan’s national health insurance scheme, which curbs a sharp rise in out-of-pocket medical expenses. Despite the relatively low-cost availability, however, the drugs have eventually been administered to only 87 out of 456 applicants, the survey by a study group at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology showed.
Amid support programs for the employment of people with disabilities, an unprecedented case of fraudulent benefit claims by an Osaka-based company has come to light. The total amounts to ¥15 billion, funded, of course, by taxpayers.
A recent analysis of a government report showed that nearly 500 people aged 65 and older died between fiscal 2006 and 2024 as a result of murder or abuse by family members or relatives who had been caring for them, highlighting the increasingly harsh environment surrounding in-home caregiving.
Japanese health minister Kenichiro Ueno on Friday 3rd April urged the public to exercise caution as measles cases are increasing. The number of people infected with the disease in Japan this year had reached 152 as of March 22, the highest total for the same period since 2020.
A survey of families of people with disabilities has revealed that nearly 60% responded that they feel they have reached their limit with caregiving (care/assistance). It was also found that about 90% said they are worried about the lives of people with disabilities after their parents have passed away.
“We’d like you to resign.” Hearing those words, Yamakawa (a pseudonym) was shocked. They never expected such a drastic change in their employer’s attitude. The incident that came to mind had happened just four days earlier. Yamakawa had revealed to the head of the company, where they had been working for three years, that they had ASD.
According to the announcement, as of June 1, 2024, three municipalities, Kinokawa, Shirahama, and Kushimoto, did not meet the statutory employment rate of 2.8% for persons with disabilities under the Act on Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities. As a result, they formulated employment plans for hiring persons with disabilities as required by the law. However, despite guidance from the bureau aimed at achieving the target, the situation had not improved by the deadline of the end of December 2025.
Osaka City said March 27 it had revoked the operating licenses of four disability employment support facilities run by subsidiaries of Kizuna Holdings, after determining they had improperly received excessive public subsidies tied to employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Kizuna Holdings operates Type A continuous employment support facilities, where users with disabilities work in structured settings while receiving wages subsidized by public funds, with the aim of transitioning into regular employment.
According to the report for 2025 compiled jointly by the health ministry and the National Police Agency, the total suicide figure dropped 1,132 from the previous year to 19,188, the lowest since 1978, when the statistics began.
Barrier Free Japan