A startup backed by Honda Motor Co. has launched a shoe-mounted vibration device to help visually impaired people navigate their surroundings.
Paired with a smartphone app, the device developed by Ashirase wraps around the foot and sends prompts by vibration. It contains a motion sensor to detect the user’s position and signal a turn at the appropriate time.
Toyota has served as a highest-ranking sponsor under a 10-year contract starting in 2015. The company has provided vehicles for officials and athletes at five Summer and Winter Games during that period. According to officials, Toyota has paid approximately 200 billion yen ($1.4 billion) to the IOC.The automaker intends to continue providing direct support to athletes and equipment for sports for the disabled even after the sponsorship agreement ends, Toyoda said.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, only 50.1% of companies achieved the legal employment rate for people with disabilities of 2.3% in 2023. The legal employment rate for private companies was raised to 2.5% in April 2024, and is scheduled to be further raised to 2.7% in July 2026.
COVID-19 routine vaccinations, mainly for people aged 65 or older, began in Japan on Tuesday in a program running until March 31 next year.
In order to raise interest and understanding in hiring people with disabilities, Yamanashi prefecture and other organizations are awarding businesses that are proactively hiring and exemplary people who have worked there for many years in line with “Disability Employment Support Month” in September.
The statutory employment rate for people with disabilities in Japan was raised to 2.5% in April 2024, and a policy has been announced to make it 2.7% in fiscal 2026. UNIQLO’s parent company, ‘Fast Retailing’ employs 1,167 people, saying it has set a goal of “employing at least one person with disabilities per store.”
There is one week to go until the release of ‘Mark – A Call to Action’ on October 8th 2024! Mark Bookman was a historian, whose specialism was disability policy and related social movements in Japanese and global contexts. He studied Japanese Studies at University of Pennsylvania, and at the time of his death on December 16th 2022 he was Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Tokyo. The film is directed by Ron Small.
18-year-old Tokito Oda, who won the gold medal in the men’s singles at the Paris Paralympics, showed his skills by winning his first match after the Games in Tokyo in straight sets 2-0. Oda won a gold medal in men’s singles and a silver medal in men’s doubles at his first Paralympic Games in Paris. Oda, ranked No. 1 in the world, played his first match after the Paralympics in the first round of the men’s wheelchair singles tournament held in Koto-ku, Tokyo, against a Chinese player ranked No. 55 in the world.
A forum was held in Tokyo on September 22nd to form a national network for people with developmental disabilities, Kyodo News reported. In order to reflect the voices of people with developmental disabilities in national and local government policies, local groups of people with developmental disabilities have decided to form a national network. Representatives of the initiators exchanged opinions on issues such as employment and welfare. A website will be launched within the year and participation will be encouraged.
The central Japan city of Obu, Aichi Prefecture, has created an orange-colored “dementia help mark” to make it easier for people to talk to dementia sufferers in need of support. The step was proposed by Ryuichi Takai, 74, who lost his father with dementia in a train accident. “I hope the help mark will become available nationwide to reduce as much as possible the number of people who have to feel the same kind of grief I did,” Takai said.
Barrier Free Japan