Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced on January 19th that in fiscal 2024 there were 6,258 reports and notifications received by prefectures and designated cities concerning alleged abuse of persons with disabilities by staff at psychiatric hospitals. Of these, 260 cases were officially recognized as abuse.
A former employee of a facility for people with disabilities in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of repeatedly assaulting and injuring a male resident in his 20s with a disability on three occasions between 2021 and 2024, police said. Investigators allege the 42-year-old man initially told colleagues the injuries were the result of an accident, but the case came to light after a relative of another resident contacted police in January last year. Authorities have since identified injuries among other residents from the same period that may have been caused by assaults, raising concerns the suspect may have routinely abused multiple residents, and police are continuing their investigation.
More than half of Japanese companies say they will struggle to meet the government’s higher disability employment quota, highlighting persistent challenges in workplace readiness and internal awareness. A survey by disability employment support firm Persol Diversity found that 52.6% of companies view achieving the revised statutory quota of 2.7%, which takes effect in July, as difficult, underscoring gaps in organizational understanding and the need for improved accommodations and support systems for workers with disabilities.
In explaining the reasons for the sentence, the court first referred to the incident on March 31, 2025, in which the defendant caused serious injury to a 9-year-old child through negligent driving. The 9-year-old child who was injured suffered “diffuse axonal injury, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, acute subdural hematoma, swallowing dysfunction, and quadriplegia, among other injuries, and at one point was in a life-threatening condition.” Even now, “the function of both the upper and lower limbs remains severely restricted, nutrition is almost entirely provided through tube feeding, the child can barely speak, and requires assistance for most daily activities.” The prospect of future recovery remains uncertain.
More than half of Japanese companies say they will struggle to meet the government’s higher disability employment quota, highlighting persistent challenges in workplace readiness and internal awareness. A survey by disability employment support firm Persol Diversity found that 52.6% of companies view achieving the revised statutory quota of 2.7%, which takes effect in July, as difficult, underscoring gaps in organizational understanding and the need for improved accommodations and support systems for workers with disabilities.
Gunma Prefecture issued guidance to a social welfare corporation operating a disability support facility following an investigation into an accident in which a male high school student (17 at the time), who attended a disability support facility in Ōra Town, Gunma Prefecture, fell ill and died during a sea swimming outing. The prefecture cited a “delay in transporting him to a hospital” as a contributing factor and pointed out that countermeasures against aspiration of seawater had not been discussed, stating that “risk management was not in place.”
A former member of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force reached a final settlement on Monday in a damages lawsuit she filed over sexual assault by five then GSDF members. The settlement, reached at Yokohama District Court, includes the government’s payment of a total of 1.6 million yen to the plaintiff, Rina Gonoi, 26, but not an apology or payment from the five former GSDF members.
Gunma Prefecture issued guidance to a social welfare corporation operating a disability support facility following an investigation into an accident in which a male high school student (17 at the time), who attended a disability support facility in Ōra Town, Gunma Prefecture, fell ill and died during a sea swimming outing. The prefecture cited a “delay in transporting him to a hospital” as a contributing factor and pointed out that countermeasures against aspiration of seawater had not been discussed, stating that “risk management was not in place.”
“The government’s responsibility is extremely grave,” Takaichi said when she met with the victims at the prime minister’s office on Wednesday. A law on compensation to forced sterilization victims took effect on Jan. 17 last year following a Supreme Court ruling that recognized the state’s liability. While victims are estimated to include around 25,000 individuals subjected to sterilization procedures and about 59,000 who had abortions, the number of cases certified under the law remained at just 1,560 as of the end of November last year.
Japan’s health ministry will designate eight drug ingredients as having abuse potential under law in response to rising concerns about the overdose of over-the-counter drugs among young people, it has been learned. The ministry will publicly notify the decision, made by its subcommittee on Friday, in mid-February. Currently, six ingredients commonly found in cold or cough medicines are designated as drugs that may be abused under ministerial ordinances and other rules. The new designation will add dextromethorphan, an antitussive ingredient, and diphenhydramine, an antihistamine, bringing the total number of designated substances to eight.
Barrier Free Japan