In 1977, large-scale protests were held over the public bus operator’s refusal to allow people in wheelchairs with cerebral palsy to board, which became known as the “Kawasaki bus struggle.” This became an impetus for the progression of rights for those with disabilities.
In August, a physically disabled man (53) was denied boarding a Kawasaki City bus because he was refused use of the disability certificate app on his smartphone. The city has approved the use of the app, and the man claims he was “unfairly refused boarding.” The city apologized to the man, saying “the driver was not aware of the problem.” While the use of information and communication technology (ICT) is progressing, the situation shows that operators are lagging behind in their understanding.
A group representing people with disabilities has pointed out that the location of the new parking lot “hinders the use of the platform and increases danger,” and is calling for improvements. JR West Japan Chugoku Headquarters, based in Higashi-ku, which set up the parking lot, has reflected that “information sharing with the groups was not done well,” and will continue to monitor usage.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission on Thursday issued cease-and-desist orders to JTB Corp. and three other travel agencies in a bid-rigging case over a municipal project to transport COVID-19 patients.
It is the first time the antitrust watchdog has issued such an order over a project related to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the watchdog and other sources, the project to transport COVID-19 patients from their homes to accommodation facilities was ordered by the northeastern city of Aomori. The five companies colluded to decide in advance which of them would win five related tenders between April 2022 and March 2023, while agreeing that the winner would outsource some operations to the others.
A Japanese man who lost his wife and daughter in a high-profile accident involving a runaway car driven by an elderly man five years ago says he hopes to “leverage (through dialogue) the victimizer’s experience to prevent traffic accidents.”
The bereaved man, Takuya Matsunaga, 37, is slated to hold a meeting shortly with the elderly man, Kozo Iizuka, 92, who is serving a prison term over the incident.
On April 5th, a Taiwanese national with a physical disability attempted to board a Taiwan-bound flight of low-cost carrier (LCC) Peach Aviation (headquartered in Osaka Prefecture) at Naha Airport in Okinawa, but was denied boarding because the battery in their electric wheelchair was not visible from the outside. They complained that this was a discriminatory response, as airlines differ in their response to the issue of visual confirmation of batteries.
A man has died following an accident involving his suit jacket getting caught in an escalator at a station in Ibaraki Prefecture, police said Wednesday 27th March.
Tuesday 2nd of April was the United Nation’s ‘Autism Awareness Day’.
Japan Airlines or JAL, Japan’s national airline, held a simulation boarding experience using an actual aircraft at Haneda Airport so that children with autism and other developmental disabilities can enjoy air travel with peace of mind.
TokiAir, an airline that began service last month, posted information on its website for passengers. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) pointed out that some expressions on the website could be misinterpreted as requiring disabled persons to be accompanied by an escort on a uniform basis. In response, the company changed the content and commented that it did not intend to discriminate.
The photograph was taken at my local train station in Kobe. The station itself is quite accessible to a person with disabilities like myself. However, there is one small problem when one enters the station, because those who enter the station, enter what I like to call an ‘empire of QR codes’.
‘But isn’t that ok, maybe even accessible’ I hear you say? But, I find it difficult to hold my body still for a lengthy period of time because it spasms, it took me more than ten minutes to take this photo, imagine how much time it would take for me to scan a QR code.
Barrier Free Japan