On the 27th of last month, Sho Tanaka, 31, a doctor, was found collapsed in a space on the first basement floor of an elevator in a commercial building in Chuo Ward, Kobe, and later died. Before Dr. Tanaka was found, a store employee saw the elevator’s fourth floor door open with no “cage” in place.
In August 2024, Ms. Koyuki Hamano, 16, an intellectually disabled girl who was a resident of Chiba City, was rejected from the Chiba prefectural high school entrance examination, and asked the prefectural government to cancel her rejection, the Chiba District Court rejected her request to be provisionally obligated to enroll in the school. On February 4, Hamano’s parents held a press conference in the city and announced that they have given up on the idea of continuing her education in the prefecture, terminated the trial, and that she will enroll in a Tokyo metropolitan high school from April.
On February 28th, 18 kindergarten children at Amagi Certified Childcare Center in Shizuoka Prefecture filmed messages of support in sign language for the Deaflympics, a sports festival for people with hearing impairments, for which Izu City will also be one of the venues. The Deaflympics, held every four years, will be held in Japan for the first time in from Saturday November 15th 2025 until Wednesday November 26th 2025, and the Japan Cycle Sports Center in Izu City in Shizuoka prefecture will be the venue for six cycling events.
The final episode of NHK’s TV programme on minorities ‘Baribara’ will air on NHK E on Thursday March 6th 2024 at 20:00PM. It will look back on the 15 years of the programme covering the issues concerning minority groups in Japan.
In August 2024, Ms. Koyuki Hamano, 16, an intellectually disabled girl who was a resident of Chiba City, was rejected from the Chiba prefectural high school entrance examination, and asked the prefectural government to cancel her rejection, the Chiba District Court rejected her request to be provisionally obligated to enroll in the school. On February 4, Hamano’s parents held a press conference in the city and announced that they have given up on the idea of continuing her education in the prefecture, terminated the trial, and that she will enroll in a Tokyo metropolitan high school from April.
The psychological hurdle of disclosing one’s sexual orientation and gender identity, a concept known by the acronym SOGI, is significant for many in the country’s LGBTQ+ community, and some are reluctant to see a doctor due to insensitive remarks they have received from health care professionals.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that his government will reconsider its plan to raise the ceiling on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care. The government will conduct the first phase of the expense cap hike this August as planned, and make a decision by this autumn on further increases, currently scheduled for August 2026 and later. Ishiba made the announcement in response to a question from Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at a meeting of the Budget Committee in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.
A report by All Nippon News Network (ANN) broadcast on February 28th confirmed that the seven employment support offices of the company ‘Union Social System’ that has its headquarters in Shinjo City, Yamagata prefecture, will close in March 2026; leading to 217 employees losing their jobs, a result of the so-called “1.06 million yen barrier.”
Keio university said it will consider whether to carry out the research, which would be the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
A report by All Nippon News Nerwork (ANN) broadcast on February 28th confirmed that the seven employment support offices of the company ‘Union Social System’ that has its headquarters in Shinjo City, Yamagata prefecture, will close in March 2026; leading to 217 employees losing their jobs, a result of the so-called “1.06 million yen barrier.”
Barrier Free Japan