100歳女性が介護施設で転倒骨折「施設の責任だ」　揺れた司法判断

米田優人

YONEDA, Masato

2025年4月19日 13時00分

　介護施設にいる100歳の女性が転んで、腕の骨を折った。深夜に1人でトイレに向かっていたときだった。施設側に法的な責任はあるのか。裁判所が下した判断は。

A 100-year old woman fell at a home for the aged care-giving facility, and fractured her arm. The incident occurred while she was going to the toilet by herself late in the evening. Does the responsibility fall on the side of the care-giving facility according to the law?

　女性は2018年ごろから、介護施設でショートステイを利用していた。歩行器が欠かせず、19年には、部分的な介助が必要とされる「要介護2」と判定された。

Beginning 2018, the woman had been staying for short periods (short stay) at the care-giving facility. Since the woman needed the use of a walker, the facility decided in 2019 to classify her as a "Nursing Care Level 2," someone that needs partial assistance.

　事故が起きたのは21年5月。深夜に目覚めた女性は、1人で靴を履き、歩行器を使って居室から出た。トイレに入ろうとしたが、ドアの前で転び、腕の骨が折れ約3カ月間入院した。

The incident occurred in May 2021. At the late hours of the evening, the woman woke up, put on her slippers by herself, and went out of her room using the walker. While trying to enter the toilet, she fell in front of the door, fractured her arm and had to be hospitalized for about three months.

　女性は「施設が事前に対策をとっていれば事故は防げた」と訴え、施設を運営する社会福祉法人に賠償を求める訴訟を22年に起こした。

The woman filed a lawsuit in 2022 seeking compensation from the executives of the social welfare corporation that runs the said facility. "If its management had taken preventive measures, this incident would not have occurred," she complained.

The woman pointed out in the lawsuit that based on factors like her old age, which is at 100 years old, and her need of a walker, "the facility's management foresaw the occurrence of the incident." She complained that the facility had the duty to prevent her falling down by having its caregiver to accompany her whenever she moved about during late at night.

Management directly argued to the contrary.

They explained that the woman had never before fallen inside the facility, and had also been able to go to the toilet by herself using the walker during the evenings. The management added that having someone to accompany her with the said task wasn't necessary. They also sought to dismiss the case by saying that they didn't foresee such an incident would occur.

The facility was ordered to compensate the woman: "The incident was foreseen by the management."

The woman won the case based on the decision made by the Shizuoka Trial Court in February 2024. Weighing heavily the responsibility of the facility, the court ordered the management of the facility to compensate the woman.

Upon foreseeing incidents such as the woman falling at the care-giving facility, "the management has the duty to take concrete actions to prevent such incidents from occurring."

More ...

## REFERENCE

肝臓の働き示すミニ臓器「オルガノイド」開発　慶応大、阪大

"Organoid," a mini organ developed by the teams at Keio University and Osaka University, shows the various roles of the liver

瀬川茂子

HASEGAWA, Shigeko

2025年4月17日 17時00分

肝臓の主な働きを備えた立体的な組織「肝細胞オルガノイド」の作製に慶応大と大阪大のグループがそれぞれ成功し、英科学誌ネイチャーに17日発表した。オルガノイドは「ミニ臓器」とも呼ばれ、病気の仕組み解明や薬の開発、再生医療につながる可能性がある。

English Science magazine Nature has announced on the 17th of April that the research teams at Keio University and Osaka University have each separately succeeded in producing an "Organoid of the Liver," a 3D structure that can perform the major tasks of the liver. This organoid, also called, "The Mini Organ," has the potential to be used in regenerative medicine, in the development of drugs as well as in the explanation of mechanisms behind diseases.

　肝臓には取り込んだ栄養を必要な物質に変えたり、貯蔵したり老廃物を排泄（はいせつ）する多様な働きがある。

It has various roles including the storage and disposal of waste products and the conversion of nutrients into the necessary substances that the liver would need.

　ヒトの肝細胞を機能を保ったまま大量に安定的に培養することはむずかしかったが、慶応大の佐藤俊朗教授らのグループは、特定のたんぱく質を使うことによって細胞を100万倍に増やすのに成功した。さらにホルモンを使って培養し、肝臓がもつ毛細胆管の構造を再現したようなオルガノイドができた。

Although it's a challenge to cultivate human liver cells in a stable way and in large quantities while keeping their cellular mechanisms intact, the team led by Prof. SATO, Toshiro of Keio University has successfully increased the number of these cells that can be cultivated by a million fold through the use of a special protein. Moreover, by using the hormone and cultivating it further, he and his team were able to produce an organoid that recreates the structure of the Bile canaliculi, a substance present in the liver.

　このオルガノイドは肝臓が作る、糖や尿素、胆汁酸、コレステロールを作ることを確認。脂肪の蓄積もみられ、脂肪肝の治療薬の効果を調べることもできたという。

This organoid has been confirmed to produce glucose, bile, acid and cholesterol, things that the liver produces. In addition, they were able to investigate the medicinal effects of liver fat upon seeing the amount that the organoid was able to accumulate.

Keio University's research team has also shown the possibility of using this genetically altered organoid in organ transplants, in the replication of conditions for a disease to manifest, among others.

Meanwhile, the research team from Osaka University produced an organoid from the liver cells that came from iPS cells. They used a method that mimics the process of creating organs from a fertilized egg. They focused on the differences in the behavior of liver cells according to their location. Using Vitamin C and the molecule Bilirubin, they were able to create two types of liver cells with varying roles. When these two types of cells are cultivated together, they were able to produce a 3D organ that also contained the intermediary cells.

When the team transplanted the several thousands of 0.5 mm organoids to a rat with an unhealthy liver, they were able to confirm that its survival rate increased after one month. Furthermore, to use this in the long-term, it would be necessary to link it with other organs that dispose waste.

The research team from Osaka University would like to develop the method that uses the organoid as an artificial liver. They aim to provide a temporary support to the liver by linking the blood of a patient whose liver condition has suddenly worsened to an external organoid.

Osaka University Prof. TAKEBE, Takanori says, "We want to link the results of this to the application of bio-artificial livers as well as to research works that seek to find an effective medical treatment plan for every patient."

The paper from the research team at Keio University and the one from Osaka University have both been published in the English Science Magazine, Nature.

## REFERENCE

宮崎アニメが映す戦後民主主義　研究者語る「小さなものを大事に」

Post-war democracy as depicted in Miyazaki's Anime, "Value the little things," says researcher

聞き手・各務滋

Reporter: KAGAMI, Shigeru

2025年4月13日 7時00分

　確かに、高度成長後の1970年代後半あたりから日本の大国化が自覚されて「ナショナリズムも悪いものではないね」となってゆき、湾岸戦争を経た90年代には「日本は国際貢献ができていない」「憲法9条は理想主義的で地に足が着いていない」とみられるようになりました。21世紀になると新自由主義的な競争原理も強調されます。「この世界はサバイバル、戦う場所なのだ」と。

Since the high-growth years of Japan during the latter half of the 1970's, the country's great transformation led to the idea that "Nationalism isn't bad," and by the 90's during the Gulf War, ideas such as "Japan has not been contributing internationally," "The 9th Article of the Constitution is idealistic and is not down to earth," began to gain attention. When the 21st century arrived, much more emphasis was given to a free and democratic type of competition. "This world is about survival. It's a battleground."

　――宮崎作品のどの辺に戦後民主主義を感じますか。

Q: In which parts of Miyazaki's works do you feel this sense of post-war democracy?

居場所を見つける物語

Stories to find one's place

If we analyze Miyazaki's works beginning from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)" or even the TV Anime "Conan: The Boy in the Future (1978)," we'll learn that for the longest time the type of stories that Miyazaki depicts would have protagonists who find their own place in the world through work, and this place can be further improved through their active participation. Alternatively, we may also notice the rich personalities behind each of his characters, whose own self-realizations are also linked to their respective communities. It's also about righting the imbalance that exists in the power relations of a given society. These, from my understanding, are values found in post-war democracy.

Q: How about No Face in "Spirited Away (2001)?" I felt that it was a metaphor of "Japan" to mean the calmness that we experience each and everyday, yet when chaos erupts, it is disturbed and cannot deal with it very well.

Moving away from Miyazaki's motive for these things, and speaking based on my own analysis, No Face can consume anything that it puts inside itself, and it doesn't know what it wants. While it doesn't know what it ought to want, I think that having desire and only that has become a powerful caricature of a present-day "Japanese person."

The protagonist of Miyazaki's masterpiece, "The Boy and the Heron (2023)," in the end chooses to live life making friends in this "dirty world" without showing any concern whatsoever in the creation of something ideal based on the point of view of a god. Miyazaki values "the little things" more than a great story, and I thought that it conveyed a very powerful message. Miyazaki's thoughts and ideas reach his audience in a way that is different from the discussions made by researchers and critics, passing through a path that is even more expansive. It is in this line of thought that his masterpieces are well-appreciated.

Perhaps, what I myself can do is to fuss over the "little things." And to change the signboard and come up with ideas behind the mechanisms. Even if I set my "goal" to be discussions about democracy after the war, I think that it's sort of like bringing Miyazaki's anime to the "forefront."

YAMAMOTO, Akihiro

YAMAMOTO, Akihiro was born in 1984. He is an Associate Professor at the Kobe University of Foreign Languages. He specializes in Media Culture History, History Studies and Social Science. He has authored "Post-war Democracy" and "OE, Kenzaburo and His Time."

## REFERENCE

交通事故の瞬間は視界がスローモーション？　時間の感じ方変える感情

The world moves in slow-motion the moment a traffic accident occurs? Emotion can change our sense of time

島田祥輔

SHIMADA, Shosuke

2025年4月8日 7時00分

【ニュートンから】時間心理学（2）

The Psychology of Time

　時間の感じ方は，代謝だけでなく，脳の情報処理速度によっても影響を受けることがわかっている。情報処理速度が上がると，時間が実際よりも遅く流れているように感じるのだ。脳の情報処理速度は，感情の興奮によって上がると考えられている。

Our sense of time is not only affected by our metabolism. Recent research has revealed that it's also affected by the speed by which the brain processes information. When this processing speed becomes faster, time is felt to move much more slowly than it actually is. Excitement is considered to be the emotion that increases its speed.

　1984年に，イギリスの心理学者フレイザー・ワッツらは，クモ恐怖症の人とそうでない人を対象に，無色透明のガラスケースに入ったクモを見たときの時間の感じ方のちがいを調べた（Watts ＆ Sharrock, Percept. Mot. Skills. 1984;59(2):597-598）。

In 1984, English Psychologist Fraser Watts et al. investigated the difference in people's perception of time when those who have arachnophobia and those who didn't looked at a spider inside a colorless and transparent glass case (Watts & Sharrock, Percept. Mot. Skills. 1984;59(2):597-598).

　その結果，物理的時間でクモを見たのは45秒だったのに対して，クモ恐怖症の人は平均で約56秒だと感じ，そうでない人は平均で約33秒だと感じたという。このように，恐怖を感じているときは，時間を実際よりも長く感じやすいようだ。

The result of the experiment showed that the participants looked at the spider for 45 seconds in physical time, but those with arachnophobia felt that it was on average about 56 seconds, while those without arachnophobia felt that it took an average of about 33 seconds. Hence, it appeared that whenever a person becomes frightened, it's also easier to have the sense that time is much longer than it actually is.

　もしかしたら，ジェットコースターが苦手な人は，好きな人よりも，ジェットコースターに乗っている時間を長く感じているのかもしれない。恐怖を感じるときほど早く時間がすぎてほしいと願うものだが，むしろ遅く感じてしまうのが人間の心理のようだ。

Perhaps the people who aren't fond of roller coasters feel that the time they spend riding the roller coaster is much longer than those who enjoy it. While they may want time to pass more quickly as with the case of fear, what they feel instead is that time is moving more slowly, an indication that it's something related to human psychology.

　さらに，命をおびやかすほどの危険や恐怖がせまっているときには，まわりの風景がスローモーションのように極端に遅く動いているようにみえることがある。しばしば，交通事故にあった人が体験する現象だ。これは「タキサイキア現象」とよばれている。

Furthermore, it's been observed that the surrounding sceneries move extremely slowly as in slow-motion when the person is faced with a life-threatening danger or is scared. This is a phenomenon that is frequently experienced by people who've been in a traffic accident. It's also been called, "Slow-motion Effect."

　かつては，タキサイキア現象というものは存在せず，スローモーションで見えるのは錯覚にすぎないと考えられていた。そう思わせる実験が2007年に報告されたからだ（Stetson et al, PLOS ONE. 2007;2(12):e1295）。

In the past, this slow-motion effect didn't exist, and it was thought that seeing something in slow-motion is nothing more than an illusion. Indeed, this is what an experiment reported in 2007 would have us think (Stetson et al, PLOS ONE. 2007;2(12):e1295).

In the experiment, freefall was conducted in an amusement park where none of the participants wore a safety rope and had to do a freefall from a height of about 31m until they reached the safety net below. The participants had a display attached to their arm to show text that they had to check while falling. On the display, text and background drawings were shown in a combination of red and black pixel dots that changed at high-speeds. When the speed of the change in the pixels was increased, the participants couldn't anymore recognize the difference between the text and the pixel-dot drawings. If the speed in the processing of the brain increased due to the fear of falling, the participants should have been able to read the text even when the speed by which the pixels changed became faster.

However, even when the participants felt that the time it took them to complete their freefall was longer than it actually was, it was found that there was no difference in the maximum speed by which the pixels changed so that the participants could still check the text on the display. Thus, there was no slow-motion effect in actuality, and that it was the capacity of the brain to firmly remember things related to fear that created the illusion. From this experience, Prof. ICHIKAWA, Makoto, who does psychology-related research work at Chiba University, pointed out that looking at the display mounted on the participant's arm is difficult. "We cannot disregard the slow-motion effect just because of this experiment."

Slow-motion can be observed during happiness

Prof. ICHIKAWA et al. conducted this next type of experiment to examine the slow-motion effect (Kobayashi ＆ Ichikawa, Jpn. Psychol. Res. 2016;58(3):273-283). He had the participants sit on a chair, and instructed them to look at images displayed on the computer screen for one second. Afterward, the color index of the images was dropped. The images were shown to the participants for only 0.01 to 0.06 seconds. Then, the participants had to answer whether or not they saw a change in the color. As with the freefall amusement park experiment mentioned earlier, if the slow-motion effect did exist, the participants would have been able to recognize the change in the color even if the speed by which it changed was made faster.

The result of the experiment showed that it became easier for the participants to notice the change in the color in a shorter span of time. When an image such as a photograph of a snake made them feel a sense of danger, it was found that it was easier for them to sense that time moved more slowly than if the photograph made them feel at ease. From this it was concluded that it became easier to catch instantaneous changes in the color when there is a sense of fear or danger, because the brain's speed of processing visual information increased.

The results of this research validated for the first time the existence of the slow-motion effect. However, afterward, a question was raised on the possibility that the color distribution in the image of the said snake could have affected the outcome. Thus, Prof. ICHIKAWA conducted again the experiment using human faces whose image color index resembled each other (Kobayashi ＆ Ichikawa, i-Perception. 2023;14(1):1-20).

The images had four types of expressions: anger, fear, happiness, and expressionless. Just as with the previous experiment, and given more or less the same conditions, it was confirmed that the participants were able to perceive changes in the color for a shorter span of time when the images expressed anger, fear and happiness, instead of only expressionless.

But what needs to be emphasized is that the brain's speed in processing information increases not only when the expressed emotion is anger and fear. Even happiness can produce the same result. Up until this point, the slow-motion effect had been thought to be related to negative emotions like the sense of danger or fear. However, the results of Prof. ICHIKAWA's experiment revealed that the slow-motion effect can also occur with a positive emotion like happiness.

Prof. ICHIKAWA then said, "In the context of perceiving time, the color index of the image and whether the image looks pleasant or not are not the only factors. Excitement is also important. Still, we don't yet know why excitement is linked to our sense of time. Therefore, our plan from hereon is to investigate further things such as whether or not time can be sensed to move more slowly when the level of excitement is higher, as well as find out if our sense of time changes based on the differences in our emotions."

## REFERENCE

AIで脳波を解読して音声出力　まひで18年話せなかった女性が会話

Using AI to read brainwaves and output voice-overs, a paralyzed woman who couldn't speak for 18 years can now engage in conversation

サンフランシスコ=市野塊

@San Francisco, ICHINO, Katamari

2025年4月6日 15時00分

声に出そうと思い浮かべたメッセージを脳活動から読み取り、AI（人工知能）で処理することで、病気の後遺症で発声できない人がリアルタイムに意思疎通できるようになった――。そんな研究結果を米カリフォルニア大などのチームがまとめた。これまでの技術よりタイムラグが少なく、円滑な会話ができるようになる可能性があるという。

A woman, who had not been able to speak after a stroke, can now communicate her thoughts through the use of AI, which processes brain activities and reads the signals that are fired when she tries to voice out her thoughts.

　論文は3月31日に科学誌「ネイチャー・ニューロサイエンス」に掲載された(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-01905-6別ウインドウで開きます)。

The paper has been published on the 31st of March in the Science Magazine, "Nature Neuroscience (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-01905-6)"

　チームは臨床試験として、脳卒中の後にまひが残り、18年間発声できていない47歳の女性の脳にシート状の端末を移植。脳の活動で生じる電気信号と、女性が話すために思い浮かべた約1千の単語の対応関係をAIに学習させた。

The team conducted a clinical trial with a 47 year-old woman who was paralyzed after a stroke, and who has not been able to speak for 18 years. Using a device in the form of a sheet that the researchers placed on her brain, they made the AI learn to respond to the electrical signals that are fired during brain activity and related them to the approximately 1,000 vocabularies that came to her mind when she tried to talk.

　AIは脳の信号を素早く解読し、文字情報に変換。この文字情報と、脳卒中前にとっていた女性の声を組み合わせることで、女性が脳内で話そうとした文章を音声で出力できるようにした。

The AI quickly read the signals in her brain and converted them into text. By combining these texts with the woman's voice before her stroke, the AI was able to create a voice output of the text that she tried to say in her mind.

According to the team, while there had previously been a device that connected voice-over outputs with brain signals, it showed a "lag of several seconds," between the voice-over outputs and the time when the person has thought of something to say, possibly leading to misunderstanding and dissatisfaction during conversation.

With this new experiment, the team was able to show that the median speed by which the brain signals could be read in a minute is 47.5 words. It's about 1.7 times faster than the previous device. While there are still mistakes, the AI can output the voice-overs in about a second from the time when the person thought of saying the text.

The team believes that while the size of the data from the experiment is still small, the results show that "it has the potential to improve the quality of life of the patient who's now able to speak without interruptions and in a way that is more natural and in real-time."

## REFERENCE