The Japanese are very strange fruit…

OSAKA -- A worker at a group home for people with disabilities in Osaka Prefecture prompted a female resident to hit herself in the hand with a hammer, causing minor injuries, the local government and facility staff told the Mainichi Shimbun. The Ibaraki Municipal Government has concluded the act was abusive, and imposed administrative guidance on the group home.

The incident emerged after another facility employee noticed a bruise on the back of the resident's left hand that evening. The female worker was quoted as telling facility managers, "I said those things because the resident was too obedient and would do anything she was told to, and I wanted her to have her own thoughts. I'm sorry for what I've done."