Category: Podcast

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 24, 2026 Number of comments0
Abuse Care Crime Disability Intellectual disabilities Japan Podcast Sexual abuse

Tokyo Disability Facility Worker Says They Were Fired After Reporting Abuse [Podcast Episode]

A Tokyo care worker who worked as a support staff member at a workshop for people with disabilities said she witnessed repeated physical and verbal abuse of service users by colleagues shortly after starting her job in 2019. The alleged misconduct extended beyond frontline staff to a male executive of the operating social welfare corporation, who she said repeatedly grabbed the groins of male users with intellectual disabilities when they did not comply with instructions, Identified by a pseudonym as Yoshimi Kurita, said they reported the abuse multiple times to the corporation’s executives, but the corporation“turned a blind eye.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 23, 2026 Number of comments0
Genetics Japan Medical Podcast

Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Tokyo Gets Business Improvement Order [Podcast Episode]

Japan’s health ministry ordered a clinic in Tokyo to improve its operations on Friday 20th February over its violations of the law on safety in regenerative medicine. An on-site inspection of Ginza Phoenix Clinic found violations, including administrations of cultured cells using stem cells and dendritic cells by five doctors not listed in 10 regenerative medicine plans submitted by its director, Hisashi Nagai, to the ministry. Medical institutions face penalties for false or missing entries in mandatory regenerative medicine treatment plans.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 22, 2026 Number of comments0
Care Crime Disability Japan Podcast

Two Arrested Over Alleged Assault of 17-Year-Old at Aichi Disability Home [Podcast Episode]

Two male staff members in their 20s have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a 17-year-old male resident at a facility for people with disabilities in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, including kicking him in the face. Both suspects have admitted to the allegations, and police are investigating the circumstances and motives that led to the incident.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 21, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Podcast Welfare

Japan Federation of Bar Associations calls Welfare Ministry’s Disability Pension report “clearly unreasonable”[Podcast Episode]

The Fukushi Shimbun reported on February 19th that the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) said Jan. 30 it had submitted a statement to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry calling for fair disability pension certifications, criticizing a ministry probe that found no improper handling in cases where initial certification reports were rewritten, discarded and reassessed. Regarding the ministry’s Jan. 16 report, the JFBA said it was “clearly unreasonable” to describe the rewriting of certification reports as merely correcting deficiencies.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 20, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan Podcast

Japan Top Court Rules Work-Bar Provision Unconstitutional [Podcast Episode]

Japan’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday 18th February that a provision in the now-scrapped security services law that disqualified adult guardianship system users from employment violated the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of occupation and equality under law. The ruling, backed by 10 of the 15 justices, marked the 14th time since the end of World War II that the Supreme Court has declared a law or ordinance unconstitutional, and the first time since the Grand Bench ruling in July 2024 on the now-defunct eugenic protection law. 

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 19, 2026 Number of comments0
Care Disability Japan Podcast

Japan’s Children and Families Agency Considers “Children’s Homes” [Podcast Episode]

Japan’s Children and Families Agency has begun considering the creation of small-scale residential facilities tentatively called “Children’s Homes” for children with disabilities, aiming to enable them to live closer to the communities where they were born and raised. A draft proposal presented at an expert panel on the future of institutional care highlighted concerns that many children are currently placed in large, distant facilities, limiting contact with their families. The envisioned Children’s Homes would provide a more home-like, small-group environment while maintaining family ties, with trained staff assigned to support children with severe behavioural disorders or medical care needs and access to external services such as visiting nursing care, as the government looks ahead to possible legal revisions.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 18, 2026 Number of comments0
Abuse Disability Japan Podcast

Mother Ordered to Pay 30 Million Yen in Abuse Damages Causing Mental Disorders [Podcast Episode]

A lawsuit in which a 36-year-old man from Kanagawa Prefecture sought damages from his mother, claiming that abuse he suffered as a child caused him to develop mental disorders that left him unable to work, resulted in the Yokohama District Court recognizing the causal link between the abuse and his inability to maintain employment and ordering the mother to pay approximately ¥35.45 million in compensation, it was learned on the 16th. The ruling was dated January 27th.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 16, 2026 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Japan Podcast Welfare

Japan’s new guidelines warn employers not to mislabel access requests as harassment [Podcast Episode]

The guidelines on harassment by customers make clear that employers must take care not to interpret requests for reasonable accommodation from persons with disabilities as customer harassment. They note that discriminatory treatment is prohibited and the provision of reasonable accommodation is mandatory under the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, and state that appropriate responses are required through “constructive dialogue” to build mutual understanding.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 15, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Health Japan Medical Podcast Welfare

Japan Approves Muscular Dystrophy Drug Price of 304 Million Yen [Podcast Episode]

An advisory panel to Japan’s health minister decided Friday to allow public health insurance coverage for a gene therapy for muscular dystrophy beginning Feb. 20 and set the drug’s official price at about 304.97 million yen. Elevidys, a one-time treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in ambulatory patients aged 3-7, will become the country’s most expensive drug.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 14, 2026 Number of comments0
Disability Health Japan Podcast Welfare

Japan’s ‘first visit date’ rule shows gaps in disability pension system [Podcast Episode]

A Tokyo man in his 50s who was forced to quit his IT job after developing Parkinson’s disease faced difficulties obtaining Japan’s disability pension due to the system’s requirement to prove the date of first medical consultation, highlighting structural hurdles for applicants. Kenichi Sato (pseudonym), 54, was told he needed to verify an initial clinic visit from about 20 years ago, but records had been discarded under the legal five-year retention rule for medical charts.