Thank you for your continued support for our cause to reduce mechanical restraints in Japanese psychiatric hospitals. There has been some progress in the past year.
Summary of the highlights of the year 2019:
1. The petition now has 11,767 signatures. We are hoping to get to 12,528 soon. That is the number of people mechanically restrained in Japan on June 30, 2017—near the time of Kelly’s death.
2. Documentaries about Kelly’s case and the problem with restraints in Japan:
Two documentary films (one in English and one in Japanese), two documentary articles (one in English and one in French), and one English podcast were all shown in 2019. The links are below:
English: There was a very comprehensive article published on 17 May (Kelly’s death anniversary) written by Susan Strongman of Radio New Zealand.
http://shorthand.radionz.co.nz/kelly-savage-restraint-japan/index.html
The short video that accompanies it also covers the main points in 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhcs6j88Zf4&feature=youtu.be
A Podcast that discusses the writing of the article：
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018696180/death-in-japan
A Japanese-language documentary by independent film-maker Michael Goldberg that was shown on the Japanese national TV station NHK about Kelly and the problems and some solutions from New Zealand. This is a “bilingual” version of the NHK article, with English and Japanese somewhat on top of each other. Here is the link:
There is also an all-English “storyboard” of the movie with many stills from the video and the text. It might be easier to follow than the video if you have trouble distinguishing the two languages. Here is the link: http://www.yuki-enishi.com/kousoku/kousoku-13-1.pdf
French: An article in a French literary journal about Kelly was published here: https://issuu.com/freelance-france-japon/docs/eclectiques_7_-_temps__-_freelance_france_japon/32?fbclid=IwAR1VrDwhPC7SsKy7eev8tW29gaY2UtBaPYA-tZLn8EMQBALWdTXehsQCtOg
Japanese: The Japanese version of the documentary is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzBuRell6hM
The Japanese “storyboard” is here: http://www.yuki-enishi.com/kousoku/kousoku-13.pdf
3. Mechanical restraint use in Japanese psychiatric hospitals decreased by about 9% between June 30 2017 and June 30 2018. Here is an article in English about it: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/396577/nz-woman-s-campaign-sees-drop-in-physical-restraints-in-japan
4. There has been a big push in Japan to reduce mechanical restraints in elder care facilities. In Shizuoka, restraints were reduced significantly. This article is in Japanese: https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200107-00000002-sut-l22
5. Professor Hasegawa has continued to make presentations about restraints at psychiatric facilities and training centers around Japan.
We look forward to more progress in 2020. Thanks again for your support.