Latest Posts

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 19, 2025 1
Disability Entertainment Intellectual disabilities Japan

“Your intelligence stopped at the third grade of elementary school” Sapporo rapper (28) with an intellectual disability writes about “the sadness of living as a disabled person”

“Your intelligence stopped at the third grade of elementary school” — the rapper and comedian from ‘Sapporo’s Gag Man’ from Sapporo, (28), was told these shocking words by a teacher in the summer of his first year of junior high school. He was diagnosed with intellectual disability and panic disorder. How did his life change after his disability was discovered? Here is an excerpt from his new book, “Not Normal: Why I’m a Rapper, Even though My Intelligence Stopped in Third Grade” (Saitosha)

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 19, 2025 Number of comments0
Blind Crime Disability Japan Podcast Relationships

Japan’s Disability Dating App Scammers: Man with Visual Impairment Speaks Out [Podcast Episode] 

In the wake of three employees being arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for luring a man they met through a matching app to a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, forcing him to pay 1.1 million yen in cash and other charges in a scam; a man in his 20s who was a victim of the “rip-off” scam by the recently arrested group spoke to NHK. The man has a level two visual impairment and usually uses a white cane when walking outside.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 17, 2025 Number of comments0
Assassination of Shinzo Abe Crime Disability Japan

Trial of Shinzo Abe’s Assassin May Begin in October

The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with murdering former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, may begin this October, it has been learned. On Friday, Nara District Court presented the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office and Yamagami’s lawyers with a proposal to hold the first hearing of his trial in late October, informed sources said. Yamagami, 44, is expected to admit in court that he intended to kill Abe, according to the sources. A total of six pretrial conferences have been held on the case so far, and the seventh is scheduled for May 27.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 17, 2025 1
Blind Crime Dating Disability Japan

Japan’s Disability Dating App Scammers: Man with Visual Impairment Speaks Out

In the wake of three employees being arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for luring a man they met through a matching app to a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, forcing him to pay 1.1 million yen in cash and other charges in a scam; a man in his 20s who was a victim of the “rip-off” scam by the recently arrested group spoke to NHK. The man has a level two visual impairment and usually uses a white cane when walking outside.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 16, 2025 2
Crime Dating Disability Japan

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Arrest Three Bar Employees Who Used ‘Dating App’ to Lure Man with Disabilities to Pay 1.1 Million Yen

Three employees were arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for luring a man they met through a matching app to a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, and forcing him to pay 1.1 million yen in cash and other charges in a scam. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police are currently investigating the group’s activities and the full extent of their illegal operations.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 16, 2025 Number of comments0
Children Japan Mental Health Podcast

Japanese kids’ mental health ranks poorly among rich nations [Podcast Episode]

Children in Japan continue to suffer poor mental health, with the country ranking 32nd among 43 developed and emerging nations due to high suicide rates and other factors, a UNICEF report released Wednesday showed. The country improved from 37th in 2020 when the ranking was last published, although this time the suicide rate among Japanese youth was the fourth highest among wealthy states surveyed, worsening from 12th.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 15, 2025 1
Children Disability Japan Mental Health

Japanese kids’ mental health ranks poorly among rich nations: UNICEF

Children in Japan continue to suffer poor mental health, with the country ranking 32nd among 43 developed and emerging nations due to high suicide rates and other factors, a UNICEF report released Wednesday showed. The country improved from 37th in 2020 when the ranking was last published, although this time the suicide rate among Japanese youth was the fourth highest among wealthy states surveyed, worsening from 12th.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 15, 2025 Number of comments0
Health Japan Medical

OTC Drugs to Be Available at Convenience Stores in Japan

Japan’s parliament on Wednesday enacted a bill that will allow people to pick up over-the-counter drugs at convenience stores and other outlets without pharmacists. The bill to revise the pharmaceuticals and medical devices law was approved at a plenary meeting of the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, following its passage through the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, last month. The revised law will require consumers to listen to explanations from pharmacists online before purchases. It will take effect by around spring 2027. The government expects the new system to be used also in areas with few pharmacies, such as remote islands and mountainous areas.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Children Crime Japan

Arrested Student Cites Reformatory as Aim of Chiba Murder

A 15-year-old male student arrested for the alleged murder of a woman in Chiba, near Tokyo, said that he wanted to go to juvenile reformatory to escape his complex home environment, according to investigative sources. This year, a parent of the junior high school third-year student consulted police about him running away from home for a short time, police and other sources said. Subsequently, meetings were held between the student and a consultant. A meeting session had been set also for Monday, when the student was arrested.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Elderly Japan Podcast

Elderly and Disabled Woman in Mie Prefecture Banned from Using Car for “overuse” [Podcast Episode]

A woman, aged in her 80s, lives in the city of Suzuka in western Japan’s Mie Prefecture. She has an artificial bladder due to cancer and so is unable to work. Her son, with whom she lived before he passed away, suffered from an intractable disease and required canes to walk. Both had disability certificates. The woman had been receiving welfare since August 2019, but in September 2022, the payments abruptly stopped. Subsequent district and high court rulings accepted the mother and son’s claims, and ordered the city to rescind its decision, although the city appealed the ruling