The 38-year-old Kunieda, a winner of 28 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals in the men’s singles, retired while at the top of the world rankings.
He won his third Paralympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and completed his career Grand Slam by winning Wimbledon last year. He also won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles.
A fire that broke out at an apartment house in Kobe City, western Japan early Sunday claimed the lives of four men between the ages of 77 and 86.
A resident said many of those occupying the five square-meter rooms were elderly people who lived alone. Many of those living on the first floor were people with disabilities, including some using wheelchairs.
Japan’s Shingo Kunieda, considered one of the greatest wheelchair tennis players of all time, said Sunday he has hung up his racket.
The 38-year-old Kunieda, a winner of 28 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals in the men’s singles, retired while at the top of the world rankings.
When preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japan Railways (JR), based on guidance from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport required that when at JR stations, mobility scooters:
“move at a speed no more than 2km/h and follow the instructions and warnings of the train attendant, and do not use routes other than the ones specified.”
In October last year, prefectural police arrested a 53-year-old man for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled woman at a hotel in Asahi-ku, Yokohama.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of quasi-forcible sexual intercourse is a company employee living in Sobudai, Zama City. At the time, the suspect was a staff member of a continuous employment support facility in the prefecture, and the woman was using the facility.
The suspect has reportedly admitted to the charges to the police, saying, “there is no doubt.”
The new rules apply to scooters with a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour, and riders must comply with the same traffic rules as bicycles, including not riding on sidewalks. Scooter riders are advised to wear helmets, although it is not compulsory.
A Japanese labor ministry panel will propose to boost the legally required employment rate for disabled people at companies to 2.7 pct from 2.3 pct at present, it was learned Wednesday 18th January.
The panel plans to propose keeping the required employment rate unchanged at 2.3 pct in fiscal 2023 starting in April and raising the rate in stages to 2.5 pct in fiscal 2024 and 2.7 pct in fiscal 2026.
A Japanese labor ministry panel will propose to boost the legally required employment rate for disabled people at companies to 2.7 pct from 2.3 pct at present, it was learned Wednesday.
With an aim to secure more opportunities to work for people with disabilities, a subcommittee of the Labor Policy Council, which advises the labor minister, discussed at a meeting the same day plans to revise related regulations after deciding on details of the employment rate hike proposal.
In November last year, the Tsuyama Social Welfare Association, a social welfare corporation in Tsuyama City that operates the two facilities, reported the two to the prefecture and took disciplinary action against them.
The two men have both admitted the charges according to the police.
The weekly number of cases in Japan in which ambulance crews could not soon find hospitals to transport emergency patients has hit a record high for the fourth consecutive week, government data showed Tuesday. The result came as COVID-19 infections are continuing to spread in the country, putting a burden on the medical care system.
Barrier Free Japan