A Decade Since the Attack, a Federation’s Frustration

On 26 July 2026, exactly ten years will have passed since a man broke into the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, killing 19 residents and injuring 26 others—a total of 45 victims, all with intellectual disabilities. The attack shocked Japan and briefly threw a spotlight on deep-seated prejudices against disabled people. Yet, a decade on, the president of the country’s largest federation of people with intellectual disabilities and their families says that understanding has barely taken root.

“Don’t look at us through glasses that label us as troublesome people,” Momoko Sasaki, 68, head of the National Federation of Associations for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, told Jiji Press in an interview. Sasaki’s frustration is borne out by a federation survey showing that while 58.9% of respondents who acknowledged discrimination and prejudice said the situation had improved over the past five years, 40.4% felt it had not improved at all. The figures suggest that despite heightened awareness after the 2016 massacre, nearly half of the concerned public believes discrimination remains unchanged.

Intellectual disabilities are often invisible at first glance, Sasaki noted, making it particularly hard for the general public to adjust their attitudes. She recalled how the need for a quiet, stimulus-free “calm-down space” at the newly built National Stadium—the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics—was met with bewildered reactions. “People initially reacted as if to ask, ‘What is she talking about?’” Sasaki said. Although the space was eventually installed after persistent lobbying, its post-Olympics rollout to other public facilities has been slow, illustrating how far Japan still has to go to accommodate non-physical disabilities in everyday infrastructure.

The Calm-Down Space That Exposed a Wider Gap

A Survey Split That Captures Reality

The 58.9%/40.4% split in the federation’s own survey is revealing not because it shows any dramatic regression, but because it demonstrates how slowly perception shifts even after a tragedy of national proportions. The minority who saw no improvement likely includes many families and care workers who deal directly with daily exclusion—people for whom an abstract societal pledge means nothing without visible change. The fact that the question could even be posed underscores the enduring sensitivity of the issue in Japan, where public discussion of cognitive disability remains far less developed than conversations around physical impairment.

The Calm-Down Space: A Microcosm of the Problem

Sasaki’s anecdote about the National Stadium calm-down space is more than an illustration of bureaucratic inertia. It reveals a fundamental misunderstanding: many decision-makers still conceive of accessibility only in physical terms—ramps, elevators, tactile paving—while the needs of those with sensory or cognitive challenges are treated as secondary or even made up. The resistance Sasaki encountered mirrors the broader societal reaction that the Sagamihara attacker himself had articulated: a belief that people with severe intellectual disabilities are a burden without a voice. Sasaki directly confronts that attitude by insisting that even non-verbal individuals are constantly communicating their will, and that society’s job is to learn how to listen.

The Federation’s Persistent Ground Game

In the absence of sweeping government mandates, the federation has taken it upon itself to change minds through grassroots education. It runs awareness seminars at approximately 100 locations nationwide, teaching the public about the traits and needs of those with intellectual disabilities and, crucially, how to interact with them without fear. The message is simple but radical for a society that still segregates many disabled people into residential institutions: “People with intellectual disabilities live lives not that different from your own.” Whether ten years of that quiet effort will eventually close the 40.4% gap remains the central question of the next decade.

How to Help Bridge the Understanding Divide

While the 10th anniversary is a moment of reflection, concrete steps can bring individual actions in line with the federation’s call for genuine understanding:

  • Join a local awareness seminar. The federation holds sessions at about 100 locations across Japan where anyone can learn practical, non-patronizing ways to interact with people with intellectual disabilities. These seminars are open to the public and are often tailored to schools and workplaces.
  • Advocate for calm-down spaces in public buildings. The experience at the National Stadium shows that the facilities exist when families and advocates speak up. Requesting a sensory-friendly zone in your local community centre, library or sports hall can turn a single Olympic legacy into a national standard.