Thank you for your support for our petition.  We now have 9922 signatures, getting close to the magic 10,000.  There is progress on two fronts.

1.      Documentaries: 

a.      Radio New Zealand reporter Susan Strongman is preparing a feature article about Kelly and the restraint problems in Japan, planned to be aired in New Zealand in May.

b.      Film-maker Michael Goldberg is in New Zealand preparing a documentary about Kelly and how New Zealand has succeeded in reducing the use of seclusion and restraints in mental health facilities, planned to be aired in Japan (in Japanese) on 18 June on Heartnet TV.

2.      Presentations:  Professor Hasegawa has continued to give seminars in Japan raising awareness of the problems of the use of restraint and showing the video clip mentioned in the last update about how New Zealand has been able to improve its mental health care.  The most recent seminar on 10 March was particularly important because it was held at the request of a member organisation of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN).  The JSPN is an academic organisation that also includes many members of the Psychiatric Hospital Association, which has been opposed to changing their previous practices of widespread use of seclusion and restraints on patients. 

Here is a photo of the seminar.