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by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 28, 2024 Number of comments0
Japan Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.

76 New Deaths Suspected of Links with Beni Koji Supplements

Seventy-six new deaths are suspected of having links with the use of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplements containing “beni koji” red fermented rice, health ministry officials said Friday. 

Previously, the company had reported only five such deaths, and one of the five cases has turned out to be unrelated to the use of its supplements.The new suspected deaths surfaced after the ministry made inquiries to Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, which had not updated information about the matter.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 28, 2024 Number of comments0
Care Disability Japan Megumi Corporation Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

The Shog-A.I. Shimbun Podcast #37: ‘Megumi’ Care Home Operator for Disabled Banned from ‘renewals of service provider designation’

Japan’s welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for all of its group homes for disabled people. The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people and the decision was made to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 27, 2024 1
Abuse Care Disability Japan Megumi Corporation

Japan’s Welfare Ministry Confirms it Will Apply Collective Liability to ‘Megumi’ Operator of Homes for Disabled

Japan’s welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for all of its group homes for disabled people.

The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people and the decision was made to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 26, 2024 Number of comments0
Abuse Care Japan Megumi Corporation

About 100 “Megumi” facilities for the disabled nationwide unable to operate; joint liability system to be applied

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to apply the “joint liability system” based on the Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities Act to Megumi (headquartered in Minato Ward, Tokyo), which operates a group home (GH) for the disabled. If the joint liability system is applied, other GHs across the country will not be allowed to renew their designations every six years, and will effectively be unable to operate their facilities. Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya City are expected to cancel the business operator designation of five GHs in the prefecture operated by the company on the 26th, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is expected to apply the associative responsibility system on the same day.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there is no precedent for the joint liability system being applied to a corporation that operates a disability welfare service facility on the company’s scale, and it is possible that up to about 2,000 users will be affected.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 24, 2024 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

The Shog-A.I. Shimbun Podcast #36: Rainy Season Days and ‘Hostile Benches’ in Japan

Taro Igarashi is the author of “Kabobi Toshi” or “Overprotective city” published 20 years ago and in a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun Igarashi warns how phenomena such as ‘hostile benches’ –  benches, often installed in public parks that are uncomfortable to sit on – are designed in way to discourage people from using them, that they have an “exclusionary purpose” which “has long been forgotten.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 23, 2024 1
Barrier Free Disability Elderly Japan

As Public Spaces Become Limited in Japan, Architectural History Professor Warns of Threat to Vulnerable Groups

Japan is a country of some 125.1 million people, approximately 13.96 million of whom live in Tokyo. Space is at a premium, so where there is space it will be used, even if; as Taro Igarashi, a professor of architectural history and theory at the graduate school of Tohoku University points out, how it is used excludes vulnerable members of society.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 22, 2024 Number of comments0
Disability Expo 2025 Health Japan Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.

Kobayashi Pharma Cancels Participation in 2025 Osaka Expo

Following a health scandal involving its “beni koji” dietary supplement products, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. said on Friday that it will withdraw from the 2025 World Expo in Osaka. The company had been preparing to sponsor a healthcare pavilion to be run by the prefecture and city of Osaka and others and also planning to run its own booth.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 21, 2024 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Elderly Japan Welfare

‘Welfare Nail Services’ for Elderly and Disabled Growing in Japan

Japan is seeing a spread of so-called welfare nail services, or nail stylists dispatched to welfare and other facilities giving manicures to elderly or disabled people.

The number of certified providers of such services, known as “welfare nailists,” has grown 3.5-fold over years, according to a training organization.