Disability News Japan
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Disability News Japan
Hosted by Michael Gillan Peckitt, who resides in Kobe, Japan, the Disability News Japan Podcast is News website 'Barrier Free Japan's podcast, a weekly digest of some of the news about disability in Japan in audio form. New episodes will usually be available every Friday at 6am Japan Time.
Episodis Recents
654 episodis
M5.5 quake jolts eastern Japan near Tokyo, no tsunami warning issued
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 shook eastern Japan including Tokyo on Tuesday, causing some disruptions to the country's transporta...
Kumamoto City Investigates Disability Allowance Re-certification Procedures After “bedridden” Resident Had Welfare Payments Stopped
According to the Kumamoto Ombudsman, the recipient was bedridden and unable to visit a medical institution for an examination, yet the city suspended...
JR East to Shift from Magnetic to QR Code Tickets in 2027
East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, said on Tuesday 9th June that it will discontinue magnetic short-distance tickets sold at all stations on its conv...
8 Billion Yen in Fraudulent Disability Welfare Claims; 936 Administrative Sanctions Issued from FY2020–2024
Fraudulent claims for public disability welfare payments by operators providing services to support the daily lives and employment of people with disa...
Summer Special Olympics Showcase an Inclusive Society in Tokyo as National Games for Athletes with Intellectual Disabilities Opens
The opening ceremony for the 9th Special Olympics Japan Summer National Games, which brings together athletes with intellectual disabilities, was held...
Typhoon 6 ‘Jangmi’ Slams Japan, Moves Away From Mainland, Rain Still Expected
Typhoon Jangmi on Wednesday ripped through the Pacific side of western and eastern Japan after making landfall in the morning, causing flooding and mu...
Tropical Storm ‘Jangmi’ set to lash wide area of Japan
Tropical Storm ‘Jangmi’, known in Japan as typhoon No. 6, is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds across a swath of the country from Tuesday...
Two Hokkaido Disability Support Facility Workers Arrested; Three Other Staff Members Voluntarily Questioned
Two male employees accused of assaulting residents at a disability support facility in Kushiro, Hokkaido were arrested, it has emerged that several ot...
(Update 2) Typhoon 6 ‘Jangmi’ Moves Towards Japan
Typhoon Jangmi is expected to develop into a large and powerful storm when it reaches the south of Okinawa Prefecture by 9 a.m. on Monday, according t...
(Update) Typhoon 6 ‘Jangmi’ Moves Closer Towards Okinawa
Typhoon Jangmi is expected to develop into a large and powerful storm when it reaches the south of Okinawa Prefecture by 9 a.m. on Monday, according t...
Typhoon 6 ‘Jangmi’ Moves Towards Okinawa
Typhoon Jangmi, also known as Typhoon No. 6, will reach the south of Okinawa Prefecture by 9 a.m. on Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Age...
Japan’s Disability Pension Review Questioned; Staff Say “No One Will Tell the Truth in Internal Probe”
A controversy has emerged over Japan’s disability pension system after reports that staff at the Japan Pension Service had, in some cases, secretly di...
Sagamihara City staff attend disability awareness training course
During the roughly 45-minute session, the employees watched videos created in collaboration with organizations for people with disabilities to learn a...
Kissei Ordered to Warn over Vasculitis Drug after Fatalities
The drug is estimated to have been administered to 12,000 to 13,000 patients in Japan. All 20 dead patients developed liver dysfunction, and 210 simil...
Japan’s Ministry of Finance calls for spending curbs on welfare services for people with disabilities
At the Fiscal System Subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council held on April 28, discussions were also held on the field of disability welfare. The Mi...
Ibaraki Announces Revocation of Welfare Facility’s License Over 7 Million Yen Fraudulent Benefit Claims
The fraudulent claims amounted to approximately 7 million yen in total, disbursed across 17 municipalities in four prefectures: Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitam...
Disability Advocate Hirotada Ototake Questions Ranking Disabilities by Hierarchy in Social Media
Hirotada Ototake, who was born with a congenital condition resulting in the absence of limbs (“tetra-amelia”), quoted a post by a user who argued that...
Disability in Japan Book Club Time!
My beloved wrote a book about Disability!
Pre-order ‘障害と生きることの現象学: 脳性まひの身体からみえる生活世界’ by 稲原 美苗 (Minae Inah...
Instructor Arrested for Indecent Acts Against Woman with Developmental Disability Told Her They Were “going to practice making a baby”
A former instructor at a support organization arrested on suspicion of committing indecent acts against a woman with a developmental disability during...
Naha-based Disability Employment Agency Scandal: Company Received Fee of 200,000 Yen Per Hire
In a case where disabled persons working from home were employed by large companies through a disability employment agency but were not given any actu...
Passengers Taken to Hospital After Spraying Incident on JR East Train
About 10 passengers were taken to hospital after an emergency report of something being sprayed in a train car on the Tokaido Line section of the Ueno...
Okinawa Company Denies Hiring People with Disabilities and Prohibiting Contact with Employer
Employees with disabilities were referred to as “talents,” and “connections between talents via chat tools, social media, etc., are prohibited,” forbi...
Japan's Labour Ministry Suspects Abuse of Remote Work Systems for People with Disabilities as Use Triples
According to Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry data released on the 4th, the number of vocational training centres for the disabled where “more tha...
On People With Disabilities Who Go Missing in Japan
After a man with disabilities went missing from a ‘Group Home’ in Tokyo recently, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police requested information from the public...
Osaka City files criminal complaint against Kizuna Holdings over 15 billion Yen in fraudulent disability employment support funds
The city of Osaka has filed a criminal complaint against the operating company of Kizuna Holdings (HD), which had been subject to administrative sanct...
Japanese Tabloid Investigates Misuse Of Disability ‘Help Mark’ as ‘Life Hack’
The Japanese tabloid magazine ‘FRIDAY’ has been investigating misuse of the ‘Help Mark’, which was designed to help people with disabilities alert peo...
Some Notes on Blindness in Japan During Golden Week
A lawsuit is being heard at the Imabari branch of the Matsuyama District Court in which a visually impaired woman is seeking approximately 1.7 million...
The Showa Day Pod: Earthquake Advisories Lifted & ‘Disability Dating App’ Fraudster Suspects Re-Arrested
Tokyo police have re-arrested two men, including the alleged leader of a group accused of exploiting a dating app aimed at people with disabilities, i...
Earthquake with upper Shindo 5 intensity strikes Hokkaido, northern Japan
An earthquake struck the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido early Monday morning.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says it occurred...
Oita District Court Rejects Disabled People’s Claim over Unmanned Stations, Citing “Excessive Burden” on JR Kyushu
A district court in southwestern Japan on Thursday 23rd April dismissed a damages claim by people with disabilities who said that the unmanned operati...
Male Radiologist Found Guilty of Molesting Fukuoka Female Student with Intellectual Disabilities During Medical Exam
In a retrial at the Fukuoka District Court on the 20th, Presiding Judge Shinichi Suzushima sentenced a 44-year-old male radiological technologist to o...
‘Subsequent Earthquake Advisory’ Issued Plus 24 Hours
A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, an...
'Subsequent Earthquake Advisory' Time
A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday 20th April 2026, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic int...
7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Northeastern Japan, Tsunami Warnings Issued
A strong earthquake struck northeastern Japan on Monday, measuring up to upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, an...
“The users are the victims”: After ‘Kizuna Holdings’ Scandal, 1,280 Disabled Service Users to Lose Jobs
“Kizuna Holdings hasn’t suffered any damage, but we are the ones struggling. They are the embodiment of insincerity…When I look for new work, I’m ofte...
Two Strong Earthquakes, Magnitude 5, Hits Nagano Prefecture
Two strong earthquakes jolted Nagano Prefecture in central Japan on Saturday 18th April, with the first measuring a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 follo...
Japan to Lift Organ Donation Curbs on Europe Stayers
Japan’s health ministry decided on Wednesday to lift restrictions on organ donations from individuals who have stayed in Europe, a measure introduced...
Government Survey Indicates 4.5 Percent in Japan Constantly Feel Lonely
A Japanese government survey in 2025 published on Tuesday 14th April showed that 4.5 pct of respondents in the country often or constantly feel lonel...
Tokyo Police Arrest Ex-Child Facility Worker for Indecent Assault Against 5-Year-Old Girl with Disability
Tokyo police have arrested a former worker of a facility for children with disabilities in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, for an alleged indecent as...
Sapporo Employment Support Agency Executive Referred to Prosecutors Over False Disability Claims
Masamichi Sone, the representative of a company operating facilities such as “Rapport” in Nishi Ward, Sapporo, has been arrested and referred to prose...