Cases of abuse against people with disabilities in Japan reached a record high of 3,770 in fiscal 2024, the welfare ministry said Tuesday, citing an increase in consultations and reports to local governments. The total, confirmed by prefectural and municipal authorities, rose by 293 from the previous year, the ministry said.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering adding Japanese language proficiency as a requirement for permanent residency for foreigners, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. To obtain the status, foreigners will also be mandated to take a program aimed at helping them smoothly integrate into local communities, the sources said. The envisaged new requirements will be included in a draft package of proposals on policy for foreign nationals, to be compiled next month for submission to the government.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has decided on a policy to make an extraordinary revision to disability service fees in June 2026, under which the basic remuneration for newly established providers of four services, including Continuous Employment Support (Type B), will be reduced for fiscal year 2026 only. Existing providers will continue to receive the current basic remuneration.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama and health minister Kenichiro Ueno agreed Wednesday to raise medical service fees by 2.22 pct for a fiscal 2026 review. The two ministers agreed to increase the main portion of the fees, which mainly cover labor costs for medical workers, by an annual average of 3.09 pct over the two years from the fiscal year starting next April, while lowering official drug prices by 0.87 pct.
Japan plans to raise overall government-set medical service fees by 2.22 pct in fiscal 2026, informed sources said Tuesday. The government is set to increase the main portion of the fees, which mainly covers labor costs for medical workers, by an annual average of 3.09 pct over the two years from fiscal 2026, which starts next April.
Nearly two years after Japan’s revised Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities made the provision of “reasonable accommodation” mandatory for private businesses, progress remains uneven. While some companies in Okayama Prefecture have introduced measures such as sign-language captions, communication apps, Braille menus, and barrier-free design, people with disabilities say daily experiences have changed little.
Nearly two years after Japan’s revised Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities made the provision of “reasonable accommodation” mandatory for private businesses, progress remains uneven. While some companies in Okayama Prefecture have introduced measures such as sign-language captions, communication apps, Braille menus, and barrier-free design, people with disabilities say daily experiences have changed little.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering adding Japanese language proficiency as a requirement for permanent residency for foreigners, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. To obtain the status, foreigners will also be mandated to take a program aimed at helping them smoothly integrate into local communities, the sources said. The envisaged new requirements will be included in a draft package of proposals on policy for foreign nationals, to be compiled next month for submission to the government.
Japan’s ruling parties agreed Friday to seek to reduce the country’s medical costs by 188 billion yen per year, by revising the eligibility of certain drugs for insurance coverage. The agreement was struck between the policy chiefs of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai). The government plans to hammer out the details of the revised medical insurance system for pharmaceuticals based on the two parties’ agreement for implementation in the fiscal year beginning next April.
Well, that’s more or less a wrap for 2025! I might make a few podcast episodes should something momentous happen, other than have a Barrier Free Solstice and New Year and Disability News Japan will return in 2026!
It has been learned that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) is making arrangements to set an upper limit on the number of “retained workers” used to calculate support bonuses. This move comes in response to allegations that three “Type A Support Centers for Continuous Employment” in Osaka City received excessive payments. The Ministry revealed this plan on the 16th during a meeting to discuss revisions to the compensation system for disability welfare services.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced on the 19th the results of a survey showing that, as of June 1, the number of people with disabilities working at private companies stood at 704,610, a 4.0% increase from the previous year. This marks the 22nd consecutive year in which the figure has reached a record high. However, only 46.0% of companies achieved the legally mandated employment ratio of 2.5%, unchanged from the previous year.
Public prosecutors on Thursday sought a life sentence for Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a homemade gun in the western city of Nara in July 2022. In the 15th hearing of the lay-judge trial of Yamagami, 45, at Nara District Court, the prosecution said that the shooting was “an extremely grave incident unprecedented in our country’s postwar history” and a “shortsighted and selfish” crime, leaving “no room for leniency.”The defense requested a fixed-term sentence. The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on Jan. 21.
Japan’s health ministry is planning to introduce a cap, possibly as early as next fiscal year, on the number of “retained workers” that can be counted when calculating additional payments for disability employment support, following allegations of large-scale overpayments in Osaka City. The move comes after three Type A continuous employment support facilities allegedly cycled users through repeated six-month employment periods and reported around 200 retained workers per year—despite each facility having a capacity of only 20 users—resulting in suspected excess subsidies of more than ¥2 billion.
Three years have now passed since the disability studies scholar and Japanologist Mark Bookman (1991 – 2022) died on December 16th 2022. At the time of his death, Mark was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Tokyo College and about to take up a position at Ritsumeikan University.
Victims of an arson attack on a psychosomatic clinic in Osaka were remembered on Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of the 2021 incident that killed 26 people including clinic head Kotaro Nishizawa, then 49. In front of the building that housed the clinic, people related to the victims gathered and prayed for them. Nishizawa’s younger sister, Nobuko, 48, arrived at the building shortly after 9 a.m. She made offerings including tea, lit incense sticks and recited a sutra for some 10 minutes.
Four years after a deadly arson attack on a psychosomatic clinic in the western Japan city of Osaka, the sister of the clinic’s then 49-year-old director is helping rehabilitate inmates, as well as people suffering from drug addiction. Nobuko Nishizawa, 48, whose brother, Kotaro, was among the 26 victims of the Dec. 17, 2021, attack, began meeting with inmates this year.
In April two years ago, in Oguni Town, Yamagata Prefecture, a bullet fired by a hunter engaged in a bear extermination operation struck another man in the leg, causing serious injuries that resulted in permanent aftereffects. The injured man has filed a lawsuit against the town, seeking approximately 30 million yen in damages.
“Hunchback,” a novel by Japanese author Saou Ichikawa, is rapidly gaining international recognition, earning nominations for several major Western literary awards despite being the writer’s first published book. Ichikawa, who relies on a ventilator and electric wheelchair due to an incurable congenital muscle disorder, has drawn praise from critics who describe the novel’s global rise as an “unprecedented achievement.”
In April two years ago, in Oguni Town, Yamagata Prefecture, a bullet fired by a hunter engaged in a bear extermination operation struck another man in the leg, causing serious injuries that resulted in permanent aftereffects. The injured man has filed a lawsuit against the town, seeking approximately 30 million yen in damages.
Japanese Princess Aiko on Sunday attended a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Chiba University’s School of Nursing.
“I hope that you will continue to thrive while supporting people, and that you will dedicate your efforts to the further advancement of nursing and nursing science,” the princess, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, said in her speech at the ceremony held at the university in the eastern Japan city of Chiba. Chiba University is the country’s only national university with a nursing department. Some 400 people, including students and university staff, attended the ceremony.
Almost half of Japanese nationals feel familiar with loneliness and isolation, a government survey showed Friday. According to the Cabinet Office’s first public opinion survey on the issue, 48.4% of respondents answered they feel “familiar” or “rather familiar” with such feelings, while 49.6% chose “not familiar” or “rather do not feel it.” The remaining 2.0% did not answer.
“Black Box Diaries,” an Oscar-nominated film directed by Japanese journalist Shiori Ito documenting her experience after suffering sexual violence, was released in Japan on Friday. It was screened at overseas film festivals in 2024 and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at this year’s U.S. Academy Awards. Meanwhile, lawyers, including those who helped Ito win a civil lawsuit against the former TV journalist over her sexual abuse case, had criticized the use of hotel security camera images and statements from taxi drivers without permission.
Almost half of Japanese nationals feel familiar with loneliness and isolation, a government survey showed Friday.
According to the Cabinet Office’s first public opinion survey on the issue, 48.4 pct of respondents answered they feel “familiar” or “rather familiar” with such feelings, while 49.6 pct chose “not familiar” or “rather do not feel it.” The remaining 2.0 pct did not answer.
Around 11:44 a.m., a quake with an estimated magnitude of 6.7 occurred off Aomori, logging 4 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in 38 municipalities in five prefectures, including Hokkaido’s Hakodate, Aomori’s Hachinohe and Iwate’s Morioka. The intensity is the sixth-highest level on the 10-point scale. All the advisories were lifted at 2:05 p.m. after minor tsunami waves were observed in some municipalities, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
According to the city, the three offices, linked to welfare services firm Kizuna Holdings, reported around 200 such workers annually for fiscal 2024 and 2025 by repeatedly placing service users in regular employment as in-house staff for six months before returning them to beneficiary status. The offices received several billion yen in add-on payments based on these figures, prompting the city to launch an audit. A separate Osaka Prefecture survey of Type-A offices found an average of just 1.3 people per office who remained in regular employment for six months or longer in fiscal 2024.
Aikawa Shinseien, a remote facility in Akita Prefecture housing nearly 90 intellectually disabled people sent from Tokyo, illustrates the long-standing practice of placing disabled residents far from their home communities due to Tokyo’s high land prices and neighborhood resistance to disability facilities, with some locals claiming such facilities would “damage the image” of the area. Many residents have lived there for decades, seldom see their families, and feel trapped, one 65-year-old man, who has lived there since the facility opened, says poignantly, “I don’t want to end my life here.” As parents age and die and “out-of-Tokyo facilities” continue to fill in replacements, some question what a truly inclusive living environment for disabled people should look like.
The new block “is designed in a way that makes it easy for people with visual impairment to recognize (boundaries between roads and pavements) while making it easy for wheelchair users to get past them,” said Satoshi Hano, associate professor at Kyushu University specializing in public space design, who led the development.
Aikawa Shinseien, a remote facility in Akita Prefecture housing nearly 90 intellectually disabled people sent from Tokyo, illustrates the long-standing practice of placing disabled residents far from their home communities due to Tokyo’s high land prices and neighborhood resistance to disability facilities, with some locals claiming such facilities would “damage the image” of the area. Many residents have lived there for decades, seldom see their families, and feel trapped—one 65-year-old man, who has lived there since the facility opened, says poignantly, “I don’t want to end my life here.” As parents age and die and “out-of-Tokyo facilities” continue to fill in replacements, some question what a truly inclusive living environment for disabled people should look like.
Tomihiro Tanaka, Japan head of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, resigned from the post Tuesday. “We cannot underestimate the fact that we have caused deep pain to some people,” Tanaka told a news conference held at the head office in Tokyo of the controversial religious group’s Japan branch. “I’m sorry.”
A powerful earthquake mainly struck Japan’s Tohoku northeastern region, including Aomori Prefecture, on Monday night, measuring up to upper 6, the second-highest level on the country’s seismic intensity scale. The temblor, with an estimated magnitude of 7.6, occurred at a depth of about 50 kilometers off the east coast of Aomori around 11:15 p.m.
A powerful earthquake mainly struck Japan’s Tohoku northeastern region, including Aomori Prefecture, on Monday night, measuring up to upper 6, the second-highest level on the country’s seismic intensity scale. The temblor, with an estimated magnitude of 7.6, occurred at a depth of about 50 kilometers off the east coast of Aomori around 11:15 p.m.
Shimon Sakaguchi, distinguished honorary professor at the University of Osaka, who won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, underscored the significance of medical science at a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden on Saturday.
With his Nobel prize win, Sakaguchi said at a press conference, “I hope…our society will recognize the importance of medical science and medical research.” Sakaguchi attended the press conference with his two co-winners, ahead of the award ceremony to be held on Wednesday local time.
Japan plans to introduce a ban with penalties on implanting a genome-edited fertilized human egg into the womb of a human or another animal amid concerns over “designer babies.” A Japanese government expert panel broadly approved a proposal, including the ban, at a meeting on Thursday 4th December.
On the 5th, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan submitted to the House of Representatives, on its own, a bill to abolish income limits for the Special Child Rearing Allowance and the Welfare Allowance for Children with Disabilities, which are provided to children with disabilities.
Japan plans to introduce a ban with penalties on implanting a genome-edited fertilized human egg into the womb of a human or another animal amid concerns over “designer babies.” A Japanese government expert panel broadly approved a proposal, including the ban, at a meeting Thursday.
Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the 2022 murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, apologized to the bereaved family for the first time at Nara District Court on Thursday. At the 14th court hearing of his lay judge trial, Yamagami, 45, said he was very sorry for what he did. Yamagami also said that killing Abe was “wrong.” He reportedly targeted Abe in light of the former prime minister’s ties with the Unification Church, which he held a grudge against.
The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, accused of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, continued this week at the Nara District Court with detailed testimony about the defendant’s motives and a courtroom appearance by Abe’s widow, Akie. Yamagami, 45, told judges and lay judges that he targeted Abe because he believed the former leader sat “at the center” of ties between politics and the Unification Church, saying his “hatred and hostility” developed gradually and that attacking any other politician would have carried “weak significance.”
Akie Abe sat behind prosecutors and listened to the 13th court hearing of the lay judge trial at Nara District Court, using a system for victims’ participation in trials. She did not ask questions herself.
She entered the courtroom at 1 p.m. wearing a black jacket with a blue ribbon badge, which is a symbol of efforts to rescue Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago.
Tetsuya Yamagami, who is standing trial for murdering former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, testified in court on Tuesday that he believed Abe was at the center of the relationship between politics and the Unification Church, explaining why he carried out the murder.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on December 1st that it will hold its annual ‘Disability Week’ from December 3rd to 9th. The aim of ‘Disability Week’ is to deepen public interest and understanding of disability welfare and to encourage people with disabilities to actively participate in all areas of social, economic, and cultural activities.
Japanese Princess Aiko, the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, turned 24 on Monday. The princess has spent her days busy yet fulfilling, balancing her work at the Japanese Red Cross Society with her official duties as a member of the Imperial Family.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced on December 1st that it will hold its annual ‘Disability Week’ from December 3rd to 9th. The aim of ‘Disability Week’ is to deepen public interest and understanding of disability welfare and to encourage people with disabilities to actively participate in all areas of social, economic, and cultural activities.
Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chair of the Nippon Foundation and WHO goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, visited a leprosy colony in New Delhi where up to 250 residents live, urging about 30 accompanying Japanese business representatives to support efforts against the disease. India accounts for roughly 60 percent of the world’s new leprosy cases, and the Sasakawa Health Foundation organized the visit to raise awareness among Japanese residents in the country. Although effective treatments exist, people affected by leprosy in India still face deep-rooted social exclusion and often form or join isolated colonies—some of the roughly 800 believed to exist nationwide—to escape discrimination tied to the caste system
The number of university students with developmental disabilities in Japan is on the rise, with their conditions often identified at a late stage through challenges in their social lives. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, 14,666 students with developmental disabilities were enrolled in universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in the 2024 academic year, approximately five times the number from 10 years ago.
The number of university students with developmental disabilities in Japan is on the rise, with their conditions often identified at a late stage through challenges in their social lives. According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, 14,666 students with developmental disabilities were enrolled in universities, junior colleges and technical colleges in the 2024 academic year, approximately five times the number from 10 years ago.
The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted Takashi Tachibana, leader of a political group criticizing Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, for defaming a former Hyogo prefectural assembly member who apparently committed suicide. Tachibana, 58, was arrested Nov. 9 for allegedly disseminating false information about the victim, Hideaki Takeuchi, then 50, who sat on the prefectural assembly’s special investigation committee on a scandal involving Governor Motohiko Saito. It is considered unusual for a trial in Japan to address posthumous libel. Proving defamation after death is difficult, as it requires demonstrating that the information was false. The focus of the trial will likely be whether Tachibana knew the information was false.
A Japanese government subcommittee on public health insurance on Thursday basically agreed to ask patients for additional payment for prescription medicines whose ingredients and effects are similar to over-the-counter drugs while maintaining insurance coverage for them.
The organizers of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics have revealed that the number of people who visited the event’s venues totaled about 280,000, far more than their target of 100,000.
The organizers of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics have revealed that the number of people who visited the event’s venues totaled about 280,000 — far more than their target of 100,000.
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