A ‘News Digest’ about disability in Japan in podcast form! It has been snowing and is really cold, hence my breathing is a bit laboured at the end of the podcast, the air being that dry!
Scandal-tainted Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. said Tuesday that its current president, Satoshi Yamane, will step down and executive officer Norikazu Toyoda will assume the presidency.
A Japanese high court has finalized a ruling recognizing that the estimated lost earnings of a girl with a hearing impairment who died in an accident should be considered at the same level as for people without disabilities. Ide Ayuka was 11 years old when she was fatally struck by a power shovel that ran onto a sidewalk in Osaka City in 2018. She had been attending a school for children with hearing impairments. The ruling was finalized as the driver and the company did not appeal by the Tuesday 4 February deadline.
The Japanese government Thursday presented to an experts panel a plan to allow foreign nationals to engage in home care services under the country’s specified skilled worker program as part of efforts to alleviate severe labor shortages. The government also proposed easing regulations so that more foreigners can work in the restaurant industry and at manufacturers of industrial products, which are also struggling with manpower shortages.
Japan’s government says roughly 25,000 people are eligible for compensation as victims of forced sterilization or their bereaved relatives. It is believed that some of them may hesitate to apply due to fear of discrimination or may be unable to do so because of their disabilities.
Japan’s government says roughly 25,000 people are eligible for compensation as victims of forced sterilization or their bereaved relatives. It is believed that some of them may hesitate to apply due to fear of discrimination or may be unable to do so because of their disabilities.
It has been revealed that in October last year, a male student with a disability attending a special needs school in Mie Prefecture was filmed in a school toilet by two high school students and posted on social media, causing him to miss school for an extended period of time, and the school has determined that this constitutes a serious case of bullying. According to the Mie Prefectural Board of Education, in October last year, a male student with an intellectual disability (then 17) attending a special needs school, which is attached to a prefectural high school in the prefecture, was filmed in a shared toilet stall by two male high school students and posted on the social media site Instagram.
In the 2024 employment status of disabled people announced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (as of June 1), the number of disabled people working in private companies has reached 677,461 (35,283 more than the previous year), the highest number ever for the 21st consecutive year. The actual employment rate also rose 0.08 points from the previous year to 2.41%, reaching a record high for the 13th consecutive year. However, only 46.0% of companies achieved the statutory employment rate (2.5%), a decrease of 4.1 points from the previous year.
My two older children are twins, and they both have physical disabilities. They both say they have never resented their bodies, although I believe they’ve gone through difficulties. One of the twins has been with his girlfriend for more than five years. She’s lovely and they’re talking about getting married soon. However, her parents are against the marriage. I think they’re worried about their daughter marrying a person who is severely disabled. Should I not say anything and leave it up to my son and his girlfriend? It’s difficult because I feel helpless as a parent.
People laid flowers Monday at Yokohama Port in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, to pray for those who died after contracting COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which arrived at the port five years ago. “We will not let the deaths of 14 people go to waste,” said Yasuhito Hirasawa, 69, co-head of a group formed by those who were on the ship at that time.
Barrier Free Japan