Will people with disabilities and people with children ever get to use the facilities or go to the toilet in JR Kyoto Station ever again? It has been ‘out of order’ (one might suspect more accurately ‘closed’ because people make too much mess, use it to smoke et cetera) for weeks.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on December 20th that the number of cases of abuse against people with disabilities confirmed by prefectures and municipalities in fiscal 2022 was 3,079, an increase of 386 from the previous year, setting a new record high. The incident appears to have come to light partly because the government is requiring businesses to take measures to prevent abuse through the revision of remuneration for disability welfare services.
On December 18th, the Nagoya City Citizen Debate Committee held its fourth meeting on the issue of discriminatory comments made against disabled people during a citizens’ debate on the Nagoya Castle wooden restoration project. The city presented a draft of the interim report, which it aims to publish by the end of the year, and the committee members expressed their opinions. The meeting was closed to the public.
On December 18th, the Nagoya City Citizen Debate Committee held its fourth meeting on the issue of discriminatory comments made against disabled people during a citizens’ debate on the Nagoya Castle wooden restoration project. The city presented a draft of the interim report, which it aims to publish by the end of the year, and the committee members expressed their opinions. The meeting was closed to the public.
Bereaved relatives and others mourned on Sunday victims of an arson attack at a clinic in a multitenant building in the western Japan city of Osaka two years ago.
In front of the building, mourners laid flowers and offered prayers for the victims.
On 15th December, the Osaka Prefectural Police arrested the manager (32) of a welfare facility for the disabled in Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, on suspicion of assaulting a 48-year-old woman by dragging her and knocking her to the floor. He denies the charge, saying he dragged the woman but made a slight mistake in the part where he knocked her to the floor. The police will investigate the possibility that he may have assaulted the woman and other users.
The suspect is alleged to have assaulted a woman near the entrance of the facility at around 9am on 12th December, grabbing her hands, dragging her inside the facility and knocking her to the floor.
It has been one year since Mark Bookman a historian, whose specialism was disability policy died on December 16th 2022.
Before he died, Mark was working on a new project; a charity that would help organisations such as governments & businesses include people with disabilities. The charity is called ‘GLIDE’ or ‘Global Leaders in International Disability Education’. The documentary “Mark – A Call to Action” produced by GLIDE will premiere in February 2024.
In preparation for the next fiscal year’s revision of compensation for welfare services for persons with disabilities, Kyosaren, a Tokyo-based national organization that supports persons with disabilities, submitted a petition signed by 1,411 organizations to Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Keizo Takemi on December 8th, requesting a positive revision of basic compensation in light of the severe operating environment at service centers, including a serious labor shortage.
Japan will engage in fact-finding on developmental disorders in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam to enhance mutual cooperation to address the issue, sources familiar with the plan said Tuesday.
Barrier Free Japan