System of Certification for Persons with Disabilities

Number of certificates issued (thousand)	Verification provisions	Responsible entities	Application desk
Physical disability certificate	5,232	Article 15 of the Act on Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons	Prefectural governors Mayors of designated cities, Mayors of core cities,	Directors of welfare offices that administers place of residence (or mayors of towns and villages in the case a town or a village has no welfare office)
Medical rehabilitation handbook	909	Medical rehabilitation handbook system (Notification No.156 from Children and Families Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1973)	Prefectural governors Mayors of designated cities	Directors of welfare offices that administers place of residence (or mayors of towns and villages in the case a town or a village has no welfare office)
Mental disability certificate	696 (The number registered in the benefit payment book as of the end of fiscal years deducted by the number expired)	Article 45 of Act on Mental Health and Welfare for the Mentally Disabled	Prefectural governors Mayors of designated cities	Mayors of municipalities that administers place of residence

Source: “Report on Social Welfare Administration and Services FY2012” for the number of physical disability certificates and that of medical rehabilitation handbooks, and

“Report on Public Health Administration and Services FY2012” for the number of mental disability certificates issued.

Detailed Data Number of Persons with Disabilities (estimate)

Total	Persons living at home	Persons accommodated in facilities
Children/adults with physical disabilities	Younger than 18	78,000	73,000	5,000
18 or older	3,834,000	3,766,000	68,000
Unknown age	25,000	25,000	-
Total	3,937,000 (31)	3,864,000 (30)	73,000 (1)
Children/adults with mental retardation	Younger than 18	159,000	152,000	7,000
18 or older	578,000	466,000	112,000
Unknown age	4,000	4,000	-
Total	741,000 (6)	622,000 (5)	119,000 (1)

Total	Outpatient	Inpatient
Persons with mental disorders	Younger than 20	179,000	176,000	3,000
20 or older	3,011,000	2,692,000	319,000
Unknown age	11,000	10,000	1,000
Total	3,201,000 (25)	2,878,000 (22)	323,000 (3)

Source:

“Children/adults with physical disabilities”

Persons living at home: “Survey on Difficulty in Living, etc.” (2011), MHLW

Persons accommodated in facilities: Dept. of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities, Social Welfare and War Victims'

Persons living at home: “Survey on Difficulty in Living, etc.” (2011), MHLW

Persons accommodated in facilities: Dept. of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities, Social Welfare and War Victims'

Relief Bureau, MHLW based on the “Survey of Social Welfare Institutions” (2011), MHLW “Persons with mental disorders”

Outpatients: Dept. of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities, Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau, MHLW based on the "Patient Survey" (2011), MHLW

Inpatients: Dept. of Health and Welfare for Persons with Disabilities, Social Welfare and War Victims' Relief Bureau, MHLW based on the "Patient Survey" (2011), MHLW

(Note) 1. The figures in parentheses indicate the number of persons per population of 1,000 (base on 2010 Population Census).

2. The results of the 2011 Patient Survey exclude some parts of Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture.

3. The number of persons with mental disorders is calculated by adding the number of epilepsy and Alzheimer patients to the number of patients of “V Mental and behavioural disorders” of ICD-10 with mental retardation excluded.

In addition, the number for each age group is rounded, thus the sum of breakdowns may not equal the total.

4. The number of persons with physical disabilities who are accommodated in facilities do not include those accommodated in facilities for the elderly.

5. The number of persons is rounded, thus the sum of breakdowns may not equal the total.