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by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 7, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Para Sports Sports

Japan’s Paris Paralympics representative Yumi Tanaka wins women’s 100m hurdles at Japan Athletics Championships, Asuka Terada places 6th in her last Japan Championships

The final day of the Japan Athletics Championships (sponsored by Yomiuri Shimbun), which also serves as the main qualifying tournament for the World Championships in Tokyo in September, was held at the National Stadium on the 6th, and in the women’s 100m hurdles, Yumi Tanaka (Fujitsu), who represented Japan at the Paris Olympics, won in a time of 12.86 seconds.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 6, 2025 Number of comments0
Assisted Dying Disability Elderly Euthanasia Japan

About half of people who died from cancer in Japan discussed last days with doctors

About half of people who died of cancer in Japan in 2021 are seen to have consulted with doctors about where they wanted to spend the end of their lives, the National Cancer Center said in a report released Thursday. About 60% of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, the report showed. Both figures increased from the previous survey conducted in 2017 to 2018. The survey was conducted with 27,000 bereaved families of patients who died of cancer or heart disease in 2021. Valid responses came from 10,900 people.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 4, 2025 1
Birth Rate Children Disability Election Fertility Japan

Minor party head courts ageism controversy with childbirth comments

Sohei Kamiya, leader of the populist minor opposition Sanseito party, has courted controversy ahead of Japan’s House of Councillors election with his comment that “only young women can have children.” “Only young women can have children”, Sanseito leader, Kamiya said. “When I say that, some people call it discrimination. But it’s not. It’s reality. Men and, sorry to say, older women cannot have children,” Kamiya said during a stump speech in Tokyo on Thursday.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 4, 2025 Number of comments0
Abuse Care Disability Japan Podcast

Second Investigation Conducted Over Abuse at Disability Support Facility in Aomori Prefecture [Podcast Episode]

On July 2nd, Goshogawara city conducted a second investigation following the one in June, following suspicions that a disability support facility in Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture, had physically abused residents. The city conducted an investigation on June 26, including interviewing those involved with the facility, but was unable to identify the suspected abuser or the resident who was abused, so city officials visited the facility on the 2nd and conducted a re-investigation. The facility has 39 residents from within and outside the prefecture, and about 50 staff members. In response to an interview by Aomori Television on July 1st, the facility said it was “confirming the facts.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 3, 2025 1
Abuse Care Disability Japan

Second Investigation Conducted Over Abuse at Disability Support Facility in Aomori Prefecture

On July 2nd, Goshogawara city conducted a second investigation following the one in June, following suspicions that a disability support facility in Goshogawara City, Aomori Prefecture, had physically abused residents. The city conducted an investigation on June 26, including interviewing those involved with the facility, but was unable to identify the suspected abuser or the resident who was abused, so city officials visited the facility on the 2nd and conducted a re-investigation. The facility has 39 residents from within and outside the prefecture, and about 50 staff members. In response to an interview by Aomori Television on July 1st, the facility said it was “confirming the facts.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 2, 2025 Number of comments0
Crime Japan Mental Health Podcast

Woman Handed Suspended Term over Attack at University Campus, Judge Attributes Attack to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [Podcast Episode]

A Japanese court on Friday sentenced a woman to three years in prison, suspended for four years, for injuring eight students in a hammer attack at a university campus in suburban Tokyo. The court found Yoo Ju Hyun, a 23-year-old South Korean, guilty of injuring the students on Jan. 10 at Hosei University’s Tama Campus in Machida. The presiding judge put her actions down to a mental disorder she was suffering.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 30, 2025 Number of comments0
Japan Mental Health Podcast Work

Japan work-related mental illness cases top 1,000, record for 6th year [Podcast Episode]

The number of mental disorder cases recognized as work-related in Japan rose by 172 in fiscal 2024 to 1,055, marking a record high for the sixth straight year, the government said Wednesday, with harassment by superiors cited as the leading cause. Of the total, 88 cases involved suicides or suicide attempts in the fiscal year that ended in March, up nine from the previous year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 29, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Health Japan Mental Health Work

Japanese diet may help in fight against depression, study shows

The rate of depressive symptoms was lower among working-age people who consume a Japanese-style diet including rice, miso soup and fish, the first study of its kind recently showed. The Japan Institute for Health Security assessed the benefits of a traditional “Japanese-style diet” comprising of soy products, cooked vegetables, mushrooms, fish, seaweed, and green tea, along with a modified version that added fruit, fresh vegetables and dairy products.