Announcement: Kyoto Asian Studies Group Meeting on September 17, 2019 - “Inspiration Porn and Representations of Deaf People in Japan”

Announcement from H-Japan, September 9, 2019:

The speaker for the September meeting of the Kyoto Asian Studies Group is Steven C. Fedorowicz, who will present “Inspiration Porn and Representations of Deaf People in Japan” (see abstract below).

The talk will be held on Tuesday, September 17th, 18:00-20:00 in Room 212 of the Fusokan on the Doshisha University Campus (see link below for access information).

Abstract

Inspiration Porn and Representations of Deaf People in Japan

This presentation examines so-called "inspiration porn" -- the idealization of disabled people doing everyday tasks (e.g. riding a train, having a job) or for achievements having nothing to do with their particular disability (e.g. deaf athletes) -- and its relationship to disability identities with a focus on deaf people in Japan. Cross-cultural examples, observations and perspectives will be discussed to set up an exploration of how disabled and deaf people are portrayed in various media. Japanese deaf people are often critical of the representations of deaf protagonists and characters in popular television dramas and movies. Such representations create strong but inaccurate images of deafness and sign language that ultimately serve to perpetuate deficit models of disability. On the other hand, representations of disabled/deaf people themselves challenge and add to a social welfare discourse leading to (re)evaluations of societal norms and attitudes towards disability with the ultimate goal of a barrier-free environment. This presentation will also discuss how the Law to Eliminate Discrimination against People with Disabilities (April 2016), Sagamihara Care Home Massacre (July 26, 2016) and upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympics have changed and influenced disability discourses and representations.

Steven C. Fedorowicz is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Asian Studies Program, Kansai Gaidai University.

Sponsored by the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies. For access information see:

http://www.doshisha.ac.jp/en/information/campus/imadegawa/imadegawa.html

Please refrain from bringing food or drinks into the meeting room.

Contact: Niels van Steenpaal, nielsvansteenpaal@hotmail.com

About the Kyoto Asian Studies Group:

The KASG is a long-standing Kyoto-based research network that hosts monthly research presentations by experts from various Asian Studies fields. Emphasizing long Q&A sessions, we aim to provide an informal atmosphere in which scholars can freely exchange ideas concerning both finished and in-progress research. Admission is free, and we always welcome new members and presenters.

"Nearly 70% of ill and disabled people have difficulties working in Japan, report finds"

From The Japan Times, July 9, 2019.

A total of 66.3 percent of people with illnesses or disabilities say they have difficulties balancing work and treatment or working with their condition, a government report showed Tuesday, indicating a lack of workplace support for them.

A labor ministry survey conducted in February last year drew responses from 1,000 such people aged between 20 and 64. Of them, 664 were working, 268 were not and 68 were on leave from work, according to the 2018 white paper on labor and welfare.

The report underlined a strong desire among people with illnesses or disabilities to be part of the workforce, with 84.5 percent of all respondents saying they want to work or continue working. Among the 268 nonworking respondents, 64.2 percent said they want to work.

For those who think they cannot work or continue working despite having the desire to do so, 50.6 percent said it is because they lack physical strength, and 36.9 percent pointed to a lack of flexible working hours and leave. Multiple answers were allowed.

A total of 30.3 percent also referred to difficulties in gaining understanding or support from their bosses or coworkers for their condition.

The ministry said it will strengthen support measures for companies that help people with illnesses and disabilities continue working.

The theme of the 2018 report is “to realize a society in which everyone can play an active role while fighting disability, illness and other hardships.”

Creating an environment where disabled people, cancer patients, those with incurable diseases and people facing other difficulties can be fully active in the workplace is important to achieving the dynamic engagement of all citizens — one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy goals — the paper stressed.

The release of the annual white paper was originally slated for summer or autumn last year, but had been delayed due in part to the ministry’s response to a scandal over government statistics concerning the employment of people with disabilities.

The scandal, which involved central government agencies overstating the numbers of disabled workers they employed, has “severely damaged the trust of the public,” the report said.

The ministry, which is in charge of promoting the employment of people with disabilities, “deeply regrets” the incident, it said.

A total of 3,700 employees at 28 government bodies had been inappropriately counted as disabled workers as of June 1, 2017, according to a report announced by a third-party investigation panel in October 2018.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/09/national/nearly-70-ill-disabled-people-difficulties-working-japan-report-finds/

Japan Today also carried this story (https://japantoday.com/category/national/nearly-70-of-ill-disabled-people-have-difficulties-working-report) and had the following reader comments:

This is typical Japan and not necessarily the companies fault. I believe the workinghours are set legally by the ministry of labor etc and the company has to abide by them but not entirely sure if that is true. ...Sadly, people with disabilities face a tough time in public (e.g. on the train) as well.

With the Japanese work force gradually shrinking, the government should at least make it more appealing for ill and disabled folks to work or else risk losing more of its work force. How about a little compassion?

I spent a week on crutches a couple of years ago and it was almost impossible for me to get to work in Tokyo during the peak hours. I got knocked over four times by butt-holes running to catch trains, none of who stopped and had to hop from one of the station to the other to get the elevator. I nearly got shoved onto the tracks twice. These knob-head law makers in Kasumigaseki need to spend a week in a wheel chair traversing the Tokyo underground during peak hour to give them an idea just how seriously lacking Tokyo is for handicapped access.

Being a disabled person in an able-bodied world will always be tough, but we have all come a long way. There is still a long way to go, but credit where it's due, I have seen tremendous change in attitude and in the environment to make life safer and more comfortable for the disabled

"Tokyo Legoland Discovery Center apologizes for blocking deaf patrons from theme park"

Image borrowed from unfspinnaker.com.

Story from Japan Today, 7/2/18:

With eight flagship parks worldwide, Legoland is one of the top pit stops on any budding architect’s childhood wish list. Japan sports its own main Legoland in Nagoya, but there are also indoor editions of the park: “Discovery Centers”, which you can visit in Tokyo or Osaka. The park is studded with architectural attractions: there’s multiple rides, visitors can design, build and race their own Lego cars, and even leap and bound through ninja-tastic Lego backdrops.

For Niigata-based teacher Tsuyoshi Abe, who is deaf, it was the perfect place to take his son and daughter for a day out. However, he reached an unexpected blockade when he, his two children and a family friend tried to enter the park on April 21 of this year. The employee staffing the entrance called the four of them back, demanding to know if any of them could hear. Mr Abe was then informed in writing that theme park policy requires any disabled guests to have at least one accompanying, able-bodied support guest. As all four of Mr Abe’s party couldn’t hear, the staff explained, they were unable to grant them access to the park.

According to the policy written on Legoland Discovery Center Tokyo’s website, the reason they don’t permit entry is because without an accompanying guest and all-deaf party wouldn’t be able to hear the disaster alarms and so the park would not be able to guarantee their safety.

While this would be upsetting enough for anyone in this situation (the man’s children reportedly asked why all the other children could play inside when they couldn’t), Mr Abe was very qualified to tackle this injustice directly. As a teacher for the deaf, and a representative for children’s support groups at his school, he took it upon himself to reach out to the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, who took the issue straight to the government.

Thankfully this story has a happy ending: the courts found that refusing a disabled customer access to a store, park or service without a helper violates the Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against People with Disabilities. June 13 saw the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry formally request the company to “work hard to better understand the law and implement changes accordingly”. A formal apology from Merlin Japan Entertainment representative Peter Lee followed, so hopefully from here on out parents and children will be able to attend the park without any issues.

Click here for the apology ("We apologize for the inconvenience and inappropriate response to customers with disabilities") in Japanese.

This issue has become a hot topic on the net, with users wondering “why couldn’t a member of staff just accompany the family?” and pointing out “surely you don’t need to be able to hear to notice a disaster: if everyone around you is running, then you run too – it’s not like the park is even that big.” Many users noted that as the party were able to come to the park in the first place, there should have been no problem with them navigating the park alone.

Of course, as with any controversial topic there were people arguing the opposite as well: “Why should the company have to apologize just for guaranteeing people’s safety? This is just a modern day witch hunt.” Multiple users considered the issue of responsibility – “if something bad were to be happen, would the family take responsibility or would they push blame onto the people who permitted them, I wonder?”

Considering the rough and rocky start to business the main Legoland park has endured, you would think that the park would be eager to get as many guests through the doors as possible.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/national/tokyo-legoland-discovery-center-apologizes-for-blocking-deaf-patrons-from-theme-park

I'm not sure this story has a happy ending. The company was chastised for breaking the law. No real penalties. And they still don't seem to get it. Check out the claims that still remain on their web sites:

FAQs: IS THE CENTRE SUITABLE FOR VISITORS WITH DISABILITIES / WHEELCHAIR USERS?
Yes, we are fully accessible for visitors with disabilities and wheelchair users.

GUESTS WITH DISABILITIES
The center has been designed with your needs in mind. We review our risk assessments and policies annually to ensure we remain as accessible as possible to all guests, including wheelchair access.

ACTIVITY JAPAN
Provided by:​ ​​ ​LEGOLAND Discovery Center Tokyo
【To people with disabilities】 We will guide you at the entrance to the facility by elevator. The aisle is flat (partially sloped) and barrier-free. Attention in the facility may require attention when using it. Please confirm before visiting for details.

They didn't and still don't seem to understand that barrier-free is not limited to structural barriers. Barrier-free also strives to improve accessibility in terms of communication barriers. Why can't there be visual emergency alarms (flashing lights, video screens)? Or pagers of some sort? (A hospital I visit has pagers that are given to everyone to help guide them in terms of when and where to go - they are equipped with ringing and vibrating alarms.) Ideally there should be a sign language interpreter available (like at Disneyland and USJ).

Many amusement parks and tourist attractions in Japan have discounts for disabled people. Legoland doesn't have such a discount per se but disabled people are admitted free as long as they are accompanied by an able-bodied family member/friend/caretaker. A little paternalistic, I think... Legoland also has a rule that "Adults must be accompanied by a child to visit." Usually such a rule is the other way around. I guess Legoland is looking out not only for the perceived safety of disabled people but children as well (no perverts or otaku allowed...). Legos are so cool and so much fun. Why do corporations have to take away from the coolness/fun?

How can such awful discrimination and abuse against deaf people happen in 2017?

Two recent articles that can only be characterized as unbelievable and unforgivable:

Nun from Japan arrested for allegedly abusing deaf children in Argentina

A Roman Catholic nun from Japan has been arrested and charged on suspicion of helping priests sexually abuse children at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina, authorities said.

Kumiko Kosaka was also charged with physically abusing the students at the Antonio Provolo Institute for children with hearing impairment in northwestern Mendoza province.

Local media showed the 42-year-old nun in handcuffs and wearing her habit and a bulletproof vest as she was escorted by police to a court hearing. Kosaka, who was born in Japan but has Argentine citizenship, denied any wrongdoing during the eight-hour hearing late Thursday.

Authorities say that Kosaka lived at the Provolo Institute from 2004-2012. She had been on the run for about a month before she turned herself in last week.

The case against the nun was launched after a former student accused her of making her wear a diaper to cover up a hemorrhage after she was allegedly raped by priest Horacio Corbacho.

Corbacho, fellow priest Nicola Corradi and three other men were arrested last year after they were charged with sexually abusing at least two dozen students at the Provolo Institute. They are being held at a jail in Mendoza and have not spoken publicly since the arrest. If found guilty, the accused face 10 to 50 years in prison.

Corradi had earlier been accused in Italy of abusing students at the Provolo Institute in Verona, a notorious school for the deaf where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers.

Advocates for clerical sex abuse victims have expressed anger that Corradi wasn’t sanctioned by the Vatican and allegedly went on to abuse children in Pope Francis’ native Argentina.

Victims and prosecutors say the anal and vaginal rapes, fondling and oral sex allegedly committed by the priests took place in the bathrooms, dorms, garden and a basement at the school in Lujan de Cuyo, a city about 1,000 km (620 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires.

A Vatican investigative commission recently visited Mendoza to learn more about the case against the priests.

Source: The Japan Times, 5/6/17. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/06/national/crime-legal/nun-japan-arrested-allegedly-abusing-deaf-children-argentina/

Deaf Japanese tourist denied interpreter at Honolulu airport: ACLU

A deaf Japanese tourist was illegally denied a sign-language interpreter while detained and interrogated after landing at the Honolulu International Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii said in a discrimination complaint.

The ACLU said Thursday it filed the complaint last month with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Her name is redacted from a copy of the complaint the ACLU provided. She fears retaliation by immigration officials, the ACLU said.

She arrived in Honolulu on the morning of Jan. 31 to visit her boyfriend. Customs and Border Protection officials took her into an office to question her about her past as an international student in the United States, according to the complaint.

She requested an American Sign Language interpreter, but during hours of questioning she was forced to communicate by lip-reading and writing in English, the complaint said. In the late afternoon, she was handcuffed and taken to the Honolulu Federal Detention Center, where she was put into a cell overnight. “She was handcuffed behind her back, so there was no way for her to use her hands,” the complaint said. “When detaining deaf individuals, it is appropriate to modify handcuffing practices to allow such individuals to use their hands to communicate with signs or in writing.”

That’s equivalent to silencing her, said Mateo Caballero, legal director for ACLU of Hawaii. “She was treated like a criminal,” he said.

Customs and Border Protection received the complaint and will address the accusations after an investigation, agency spokesman Jaime Ruiz said in a statement, adding that accusations of mistreating travelers with a disability are taken seriously. Officers “receive extensive training in disability awareness and treat all travelers with disabilities with dignity, respect and professionalism,” the statement said.

At the airport, customs officials took away her cellphone, so she wasn’t able to alert her boyfriend, who waited 12 hours for her at a cafe near the airport, the complaint said.

At the detention center, which is near the airport, she again asked for an American Sign Language interpreter, but didn’t receive one, the complaint said. Instead, staff members tried to ask her questions by using a Japanese translator on the phone, but the woman can’t hear people talking on the phone, the complaint said.

“She felt humiliated,” the complaint said.

The Bureau of Prisons, which oversees the detention center, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The next day, she was taken to the airport for a flight back to Japan and her cell phone was returned. That’s when she was finally able to let her family in Japan and her boyfriend know where she was, the complaint said.

Source: The Japan Times, 5/12/17. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/12/national/deaf-japanese-tourist-denied-interpreter-honolulu-airport-aclu/

Monster Salvage Ethnography Post About Recent Disability Issues in Japan

Record 453,000 people with disabilities working for firms in Japan

From The Japan Times, 11/27/15.

A record 453,000 people with disabilities were working for companies in Japan as of June 1, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Friday.

The number of disabled workers hit a record high for the 12th straight year, the ministry said in a report.

The proportion of workers with disabilities in overall private-sector workforces stood at 1.88 percent, up 0.06 percentage point.

Under a law aimed at promoting employment of people who have disabilities, Japanese companies are obliged to employ disabled workers so that they account for at least 2 percent of the firms’ overall workforce.

The proportion of private-sector companies meeting the 2 percent target came to 47.2 percent, up 2.5 points.

An increasing number of companies, especially large firms, have become aware of the importance of hiring people with disabilities, a ministry official said.

The share of disabled workers in the corporate workforce stood at 2.09 percent for companies with 1,000 or more employees and 1.89 percent for firms with 500 to 999 employees.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/27/national/social-issues/record-453000-people-disabilities-working-firms-japan/

25% of Japan’s disabled have trouble making ends meet

From The Japan Times, 2/16/16.

At least 1 in 4 disabled people in Japan has difficulty making ends meet, with the poverty rate running twice the average of nondisabled individuals, according to a study led by a Keio University professor.

Atsuhiro Yamada’s team studied the results of a 2013 government survey on people’s lives to identify the relative poverty rate for people with disabilities and found that the rate is high here compared with that of other developed nations.

Relative poverty is measured based on household disposable income. The percentage reflects those living in households with an income below 50 percent of the national median level.

The researchers say the high poverty rate reflects the fact that there are fewer job opportunities for disabled people and that they earn lower wages. They also reflect the lower pension benefits available in Japan for such people compared with other advanced countries.

Yamada said the findings underscore the “seriousness” of poverty among disabled people in Japan and called for measures to promote employment for them and their families to help them escape poverty.

The study covered people who said in the government survey they needed help or had to be watched over because of disabilities or loss of physical abilities.

The poverty rate of disabled people in their 20s and 30s stood at 28.8 percent, while the figure came to 26.7 percent for people in their 40s and 27.5 percent for those aged between 50 and 64.

As for people with no disabilities, the comparable figures were 13.8 percent, 13.4 percent and 14.6 percent.

The government has compiled poverty figures for the population as a whole and for children under the age of 18. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the overall rate was 16.1 percent in 2012.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/16/national/25-japans-disabled-trouble-making-ends-meet/

Badges for ‘invisible disabilities’ catching on

From The Japan Times, 6/2/14.

Patients with hidden physical impediments — internal conditions not immediately recognizable by others — are increasingly wearing badges as they try to increase awareness of the difficulties they face.

“In all my life, I have never once been able to run,” said Nobuyo Shirai, 45, an activist who has a serious heart ailment and is registered as disabled.

Shirai visits a large hospital in Tokyo from her home in Saitama Prefecture once a month, but the one-hour train ride is tough because she is physically weak.

It is a huge ordeal when she cannot get a seat. But it is even more painful when other passengers glare at her for taking a priority seat designated for elderly and disabled passengers, she said.

People with invisible impediments can be those with heart, kidney and liver conditions. Like people with visible physical disabilities or visual and hearing problems, they are eligible for physical disability certificates.

Figures from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry show there were an estimated 930,000 patients with internal ailments as of 2011. They accounted for 24 percent of all certificate holders, a number surpassed only by people with limb disabilities.

To enhance public awareness, Shirai’s non-profit Heart Plus organization created a “heart plus” symbol in 2003 to signify an internal ailment.

People with invisible impediments used to have no way to indicate their needs, Shirai said. “People who have had ostomies would get yelled at for using the toilets for the disabled,” she said.

The mark is winning public recognition. Five years ago, Kitakyushu City Hall began placing heart plus stickers on priority seats on trains, buses and other public transport and providing badges with the mark to those who wish to wear one.

Eriko Yoshida, an associate professor at University of Nagasaki, surveyed 471 people with internal impediments last year and found that 52 percent of the respondents reported being in need of assistance or support.

Fifty-four percent said they need assistance or support even with such household chores as cooking and cleaning. A further 42 percent cited daily shopping, with a similar number saying they needed help to make hospital visits or commute to work or school.

Even people who said they needed no help may in fact be struggling, Yoshida said.

Author Sarasa Ono thus developed an “invisible impediment badge” to help people with internal ailments discuss their difficulties with others.

Ono, who suffers from an intractable immune-system condition, writes about people who receive insufficient support because of shortcomings in public assistance.

The badge, which costs ¥350, has received 30,000 orders, Ono said, with interest both from patients with chronic diseases, developmental difficulties and mental ailments, and their families.

“People need the courage to talk about their own impediments,” Ono said. “I hope they don’t feel alone, because everyone with a badge is in the same situation.”

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/06/02/national/badges-invisible-disabilities-catching/

Deaf community hopes 2020 Olympics a ‘game-changer’ for better social inclusion

From The Japan Times, 11/4/15.

Peggy Prosser was sitting in front of a travel agent in Japan when she was abruptly informed that she would not be able to fly back to the United States to visit her family because she is deaf.

When Prosser sat down with him, she had written out her itinerary and given it to him.

Initially he had assumed it was because she couldn’t speak Japanese, but when it became clear that she was deaf, he wrote on a piece of paper that flying was not an option as she would be unable to follow safety instructions.

To Prosser this was nonsense — after all, she had come to Japan by air — and definitely not part of any guidelines for dealing with deaf people. It spoke more to the ignorance of the travel agent than anything else. She finally got her tickets after the agent talked to a supervisor, but the incident left a bad aftertaste.

That was in 1993. But even now, Prosser believes discrimination against the deaf still exists as society is built for people who can speak and hear.

“I do see a lot of things changing for the better and some things for the worse,” said 52-year-old Prosser, who has lived in Japan for over 25 years. “Too often, deaf people are marginalized, forgotten or maybe ignored,” she said.

Prosser went deaf at the age of 5 for an unknown reason. Since then, American Sign Language has given her a new tool to communicate and a new way to interact with the world.

She does not remember how she lost her hearing but recalls the time when she no longer needed to wait for “a big yellow school bus” to go to school just like other kids in the neighborhood.

Living in Japan as a foreigner who is deaf has revealed many challenges. Prosser, who works as a travel agent for the deaf, hopes 2020 will be a game-changer in a society where a lack of understanding of the deaf population leads to audism — or the notion that one is superior based on an ability to hear.

“Access to public programs and services will give deaf people the experience they need to become empowered and give back to society,” Prosser said.

Many deaf people stress the importance of visualizing information as the hearing community often hesitates to communicate in writing, especially in times of emergency. Verbal announcements to tell commuters why a train has been delayed, for example, may not be helpful for the deaf.

Despite positive moves in recent years toward equal opportunities and to encourage people with disabilities to participate more in society, Japan is still seen as lagging behind the United States and European countries.

The U.S., for instance, celebrated the 25th anniversary in July of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bans discrimination based on disabilities in employment and transportation services, among other areas.

In April a new law takes effect in Japan banning discrimination by government organizations and companies against people with disabilities.

Under the new law, public organizations both at the national and local levels will be legally obliged to give “reasonable accommodations,” or assistance to those in need, so social barriers can be removed, whereas companies are encouraged to follow suit.

Globally, some 1 billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, have a disability, and nearly 790 million are of working age, according to the International Labor Organization.

Japan’s disability employment rate stood at 1.82 percent as of June 2014, a record high for Japan but still below the 2 percent target set by the government for private companies, data show.

“Japan is one step behind” in promoting the employment of people with disabilities, said Sadanori Arimura, a professor well-versed in diversity management at Yamaguchi University.

“The government should aim for a higher target.”

People who have knowledge of disability employment point out one “pitfall” in hiring deaf people. They say that employers tend to believe deaf people are only unable to hear but otherwise can work just like anyone else. That misperception has prevented those with disabilities from receiving enough support in the workplace.

Even if they are hired, the chance of promotion to a managerial post is slim, and there is also a hiring gap between men and women, according to experts.

The inclusion of people with disabilities in various aspects of society is still a work in progress.

In a classroom in Tokyo, American instructor Martin Dale-Hench teaches Japanese students how to describe personal characteristics in ASL.

Offered by Japanese ASL Signers Society, a nonprofit organization, the course is designed to help Japanese students — both with or without hearing disabilities — deepen their understanding of different cultures and train volunteers for the Olympics in ASL.

Dale-Hench, 28, said encouraging Japanese students, especially those who can hear, to express their emotions when signing is a difficult part of teaching.

One of his students, Michiko Akimoto, a psychologist in her 30s, developed her interest in ASL after traveling to many countries, including the U.S., New Zealand, China and South Korea.

She believes learning a new sign language will open up more doors, and someday enable her to offer counseling services to foreigners who can’t hear.

“I want to continue studying and serve as a bridge for deaf people as the Tokyo Olympics (are) coming up,” Akimoto, who was born deaf, said through a sign language interpreter.

Foreigners like Prosser see a need for the tourism industry to cater more to the deaf population, as the 2020 games will likely encourage Japan to improve social infrastructure in coming years.

“I want the tourism sector to invest in tour programs for deaf people in the same way they add ramps for wheelchair users and audio guides for blind people,” Prosser said.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/04/national/social-issues/deaf-community-hopes-2020-olympics-game-changer-better-social-inclusion/

Make new law opportunity to end bias against people with disabilities

From The Yomiuri Shimbun, 4/6/16.

Realizing a livable society in which everyone, whether disabled or not, respects each other’s individuality — we hope the recent enforcement of a new law will provide an opportunity for such awareness and actions to take root among the people.

The Law on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities came into force this month. The law bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against disabled people, and it also calls for giving “reasonable consideration” to support people with disabilities.

This is in line with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Japan signed in 2007 and ratified in 2014. About 160 countries and regions have joined the treaty.

Under the new law, refusing or limiting the provision of services due to a disability or attaching such conditions as requiring disabled people to be accompanied by someone to assist them is considered discriminatory.

“Reasonable consideration” refers to efforts to remove various barriers the disabled face, as long as the burden of doing so is not excessive.

A typical example is installing slopes for wheelchair users. Measures well thought out from the position of people with disabilities, such as providing Braille materials or sign language interpreters for those with visual or hearing impairments, must be expanded as much as possible.

Simply treating those with disabilities exactly the same as the able-bodied does not mean equality in many cases. Without means of moving and communicating, people with disabilities are limited in their activities. A major characteristic of the new law is that it makes it clear that failing to give “reasonable consideration” is also considered discriminatory.

Serious efforts essential

The new law obliges administrative bodies to give “reasonable consideration” to disabled people, and it also requires private businesses to make efforts to do so.

However, the effectiveness of the new law will be limited if not enough is done by private businesses that people with disabilities come into contact with in their daily lives, such as public transportation and commercial facilities. A positive approach should be taken.

There are as many as 7.88 million disabled people in the country. It is certain that this number will rise further in the future in step with the aging of society. Providing services and products for people with disabilities will not only improve the images of corporations but will also make good business sense.

To deal with trouble related to discrimination, tasks remain to be addressed. The new law urges local governments to set up local councils in which relevant entities can prevent or help solve such troubles.

Although establishment of such councils is proceeding at the prefectural level, municipal governments lag behind. To eliminate discrimination, it is vital to take measures for people with disabilities in the areas where they live.

Nearly three years have passed since the new law was enacted, but it is hard to say that its intent has become widely recognized in society.

The promotion of barrier-free environments that give consideration to disabled people will also bring benefits to the elderly and people with children. Also, the Tokyo Paralympic Games is coming up in 2020. The government should strive to make the new law widely known.

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002854009

Accommodating disabilities, but only within reason

From The Japan Times, 4/16/16.

Due to his recent sex scandal, best-selling author Hirotada Ototake has decided not to run for the Upper House under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Party this year, but he hasn’t officially said he won’t run at all. Earlier this month, while the scandal was still hot, he went ahead with a birthday party that had been scheduled before it broke. The media reported that he was originally going to announce his candidacy at the party, and though he didn’t, he also didn’t clearly say he wouldn’t run.

Ototake doesn’t necessarily need the LDP to win. He’s famous, and if he does decide to run — either independently or for another party — there’s a chance he can still win. The reason he aligned himself with the LDP was that he thought he would be able to accomplish more with the backing of the ruling party.

His main task is to make better lives for people with disabilities like himself. For the LDP it was perfect, since Ototake’s membership automatically would have given them credibility as a party that supported citizens with disabilities in a society where such support is often considered insufficient, which may explain the media’s cautious approach to the Law on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities, which went into effect April 1.

The regulation, enacted three years ago, seems simple enough. As the Yomiuri Shimbun explains, it “bans administrative bodies and private businesses from unduly discriminating against people with disabilities.” The idea is to make a society where those with disabilities can move and communicate with the same freedom a person without disabilities enjoys. But while the law mandates that private and public sectors alike must “make an effort” to remove all barriers that prevent people with disabilities from realizing the law’s aims, it qualifies the mandate with the phrase “reasonable accommodation.” In other words, there may be circumstances that make it difficult for a party to fully accommodate certain disabilities, but the law is too vague to specify those limitations. Facilities and practices should be made “barrier-free,” but if a business claims it can’t afford to make the appropriate changes, is that an “unreasonable” consideration?

In 2013, Ototake went to an upscale Ginza restaurant and was not admitted because the establishment said it could not accommodate his wheelchair. He took to Twitter with his outrage, naming the restaurant in the process. The restaurant’s response may have been cold, but it was on the second floor and the building’s elevator didn’t stop at that floor. Ototake suggested an employee carry him up the stairs, but that might not be an option for some customers. Under the new law, would the restaurant have to renovate the elevator even if it didn’t own the building?

It isn’t clear how the law would address such matters — an important consideration since there are as many ways of discriminating against persons with disabilities as there are disabilities. As Sarasa Ono, a Meiji University researcher and rights advocate, recently pointed out in interviews, the U.S. incorporated its Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities under any circumstances, into the broader doctrine of constitutionally guaranteed equality, and that equality in this sense means equal opportunity. Ono says that guarantees of equality in Japan refer to something different: In elementary school, for example, all students should have the same books and uniforms and pencils and eat the same lunch, the idea being that no one is treated specially. Equal opportunity here means creating an environment where everyone starts from the same point and has the same chance for improvement.

On the day the law went into effect, the Tokyo Shimbun discussed what sort of changes it should bring about. Pointing out that the central government arrived “late at this issue,” the paper struggles with the meaning of “reasonable accommodation.” The reporter accompanies a 47-year-old woman in a wheelchair on her morning Tokyo commute. When she arrives at Shinjuku Station, Japan Railway staff tell her to wait 30 minutes for an employee who can help her board the train. Once on the platform she has to let several trains pass because the employee has contacted Ikebukuro Station, her destination, and found there is no one available to help her get off right away. It takes her an hour and 20 minutes to arrive at her job, whereas a person without disabilities would normally make the trip in 30 minutes.

JR might say its accommodation was reasonable, but most people would argue it certainly isn’t effective. Fifteen government ministries and agencies are making guidelines for the private sector, and sent notifications to businesses in January asking for feedback, but few have responded, according to the Tokyo Shimbun. There was also resistance to the ADA in the U.S., but over the years people with disabilities successfully sued employers or businesses who they felt did not satisfy its mandates, and as a result a more accommodating environment has been fostered.

The Japanese law simply assumes good faith on the part of the public, including individuals, but it is up to local governments to spread the word. Asahi Shimbun reported last week on so-called help marks, the badges that individuals place on their persons or bags to indicate a disability that may not be apparent. Since these symbols are not unified from one city to another, they aren’t effective in creating a level of social awareness that makes assistance second nature.

But as the JR example illustrates, assistance isn’t the ultimate aim. It’s preferable to have an environment that minimizes the need for assistance, because that is what freedom is about. In the U.S., such an environment developed because people with disabilities used the ADA to assert their rights.

Scandal or no scandal, the Japanese movement needs someone like Ototake, because he’s shown he will fight for his rights. Presumably, he’d fight for others’, too.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/16/national/media-national/accommodating-disabilities-within-reason/

Concerns raised over support services for disabled earthquake evacuees

From The Japan Times, 4/20/16.

Nearly a week after the first deadly earthquake hit central Kumamoto, concerns are rising that evacuees with disabilities or ailments are not getting the support they need.

“These people should be separated from the healthy ones, because a person with a cane cannot walk quickly enough to pick up rationed rice balls, for example,” said Tatsue Yamazaki, an associate professor of disaster nursing at Tokyo Medical University who inspected the disaster zone in Kumamoto over the weekend.

“Governments should create shelters for people with special needs, including the sick, the disabled and pregnant women,” she said. “The need for such shelters was intensively discussed after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, but local government officials I talked with in Kumamoto had no idea that such shelters were needed.

“It was only after they were hit by the quake this time that they realized they should have prepared for the worst.”

Yamazaki added that many evacuation centers are packed with people, and municipal governments have turned schools and other buildings into ad-hoc evacuation centers. But because these facilities are not designated as official shelters, they don’t have access to relief goods, she said.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/20/national/kyushu-quakes-left-9000-structures-damaged-hard-hit-areas-look-building-temporary-housing/

"Equality program helping to create awareness of disabilities in Japan"

This is not really a visual anthro topic but it is very important none the less and very under reported. From Japan Today, 4/5/16:

Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and the enactment of a law banning discrimination against the disabled on April 1, a program called “disability equality training” has attracted attention from local municipalities and universities in Japan.

The program is aimed at raising awareness mainly among people without disabilities and creating a better society for disabled people, based on the concept that people are disadvantaged by social barriers.

In February, about 20 students and officials of the Tokyo metropolitan government took part in the training program organized by Keio University in Yokohama near Tokyo.

The participants watched a short film depicting a world where non-disabled people are treated the other way around and face various kinds of discrimination. It showed a non-disabled main character being prevented from getting on a bus only for wheelchair users, and facing embarrassment at a job interview.

The training program is being offered by Disability Equality Training Forum, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo.

Conventional programs have mainly focused on how to assist the disabled, and have therefore failed to make non-disabled people feel the issue concerns them too, said Ryoko Yamazaki, 46, a wheelchair user who served as a moderator at the event in Yokohama.

The new program is aimed at encouraging people to “realize that disabilities disappear if people around (the disabled) change” their attitudes, said Yamazaki.

Stairs are seen as barriers for wheelchair users, but the barriers disappear if slopes are set up. Likewise, barrier-free minds could help put an end to discrimination, she added.

According to DET Forum, its training courses have been held about 60 times across Japan since 2014, with more than 1,200 people having participated.

There are 48 people with physical or mental disabilities who have received 60 hours of special training to serve as moderators for the training program.

The scheme was adopted at the time of the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics for the event’s volunteers.

According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, more than 90,000 volunteers are expected to be mobilized for the Tokyo Olympics.

Yasushi Nakano, a Keio University professor specializing in barrier-free issues, said, “To change society, companies need to change.

“I would like to spread the training program to universities nationwide so that students, when they start working, can take initiatives to help end discrimination in their workplaces,” he added.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/equality-program-helping-to-create-awareness-of-disabilities-in-japan

But why does Japan need to use the Olympics as excuse for these much needed programs and laws?

"Kyoto court bans 'hate speech' around school for ethnic Koreans"

VAOJ has been covering this story since 2009. This court case decision is important and a step in the right direction in fighting against any form of discrimination in Japan. But there is still much to be done. This can be illustrated by the press coverage of the major Japanese newspapers. I am providing the story as covered by the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun not because of their ideology (and perhaps greater sympathy) but because they had the greatest amount of information in their story. This is opposed to the more right-leaning The Japan News (English version of The Yomiuri Shimbun) story consisting of 5 short paragraphs buried deep in its website. Click the link below to see the first VAOJ coverage. More commentary appears after the Asahi story.

Previous coverage from VAOJ (including a YouTube video of one of the hate speech incidents): http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.jp/2009/12/men-yell-children-of-spies-at-korean.html

From The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 8, 2013:

A court here on Oct. 7 banned an anti-Korea organization from demonstrating near a pro-Pyongyang elementary school, ruling that the group’s words blared through sound trucks were “extremely insulting and discriminatory.”

The Kyoto District Court also ordered Zainichi Tokken wo Yurusanai Shimin no Kai (Group of citizens who do not tolerate privileges for ethnic Korean residents in Japan) to pay about 12.26 million yen ($126,400) in damages.

“It is defamation of character and amounts to racial discrimination,” Presiding Judge Hitoshi Hashizume said about the use of sound trucks by the group, known more commonly as Zaitokukai.

The lawsuit was filed by Kyoto Chosen Gakuen, an operator of pro-Pyongyang Korean schools, including Kyoto Chosen Elementary School in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward.

The operator sought a ban on Zaitokukai activities using sound trucks within a radius of 200 meters from the main and east gates of the school building. They also sought 30 million yen in damages from the group and nine members for past protests, saying their activities made it difficult to carry out ethnic education in a quiet environment.

“The ruling recognized the wrongfulness of the hate speech that was directed at the children, guardians and teachers, and it also took into consideration the psychological damage that we suffered,” Son Ji Jong, head of Kyoto Chosen Gakuen, said at a news conference.

Kyoto Chosen Elementary School was created through a merger of two schools, including Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School, in April 2012. It moved to Fushimi Ward in April 2013.

The Zaitokukai has not sent sound trucks to the new school site, but the district court referred to previous acts near the site of Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School in Minami Ward.

According to the plaintiffs, Zaitokukai members on three separate occasions between December 2009 and March 2010 gave speeches near Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School. Their words included: “Children are being educated by criminals” and “Go back to the Korean Peninsula.”

Zaitokukai argued that it had performed a legitimate protest based on the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

But the court ruled that “acts to defame the character of the school through demonstrations could not be considered as having a public objective since they involved the use of sound trucks and microphones near the school while classes were being held.”

The ruling also said the Zaitokukai speeches were racially discriminatory in light of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, of which Japan is a signatory.

Article 4 calls on signatory states to legally ban “incitement to racial discrimination.” However, Japan has not passed legislation against hate speech.

A lawyer for the plaintiff said it is extremely rare for a court to order compensation in cases involving hate speech.

The district court said it accepted the injunction because of the danger that the group and its members could demonstrate in front of the new school building.

Yasuhiro Yagi, deputy chairman of Zaitokukai, told reporters that the ruling was unfair.

“It is regrettable that our actions were not recognized,” he said. “While there may have been some inappropriate comments made (during the protest), most were legitimate. We cannot be convinced by the argument that the comments were discriminatory through the focus on less than 10 percent of the comments.”

He added that his group’s activities were gaining the sympathy of society.

Amid strained relations between Japan and South Korea, as well as lingering problems concerning North Korea, incidents of hate speech against ethnic Koreans have become more prevalent this year, especially in the Shin-Okubo district of Tokyo.

The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called on Japan to prevent hate speech.

Groups are taking action to counter anti-Korea protesters who have shouted such words as “Kill all Koreans” in the Koreatowns of Tokyo and Osaka.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also expressed disdain toward the actions and words in the anti-Korea rallies.

During the court proceedings, Zaitokukai also argued that the plaintiff had been the one acting illegally.

“The comments were a fair commentary based on facts,” a Zaitokukai official said. “The activities by the sound trucks were in protest of the illegal occupation of a children’s park, and the activities have stopped since the problem was resolved. There is no reason for the court to approve an injunction protecting the vicinity of the new school building.”

In 2010, the Kyoto District Court made a provisional decision banning sound truck activities around Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School.

Subsequently, four Zaitokukai members were indicted on charges of using force to interfere with school operations and insulting the school.

In April 2011, the Kyoto District Court convicted the four on grounds that their actions went beyond the limits of political expression.

In September 2010, the former principal of Kyoto Chosen Daiichi Elementary School was fined for violating the law controlling urban parks. The elementary school used a nearby park for some school activities because it did not have its own playground.

By GAKUSHI FUJIWARA
Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310070090

Coverage from The Japan News: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000705914

Coverage from Japan Today: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/kyoto-court-rules-anti-korean-hate-speech-illegal

Commentary:

It is important to note that Japan has no laws of its own that bans discrimination. This case was decided upon the fact that Japan signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Why doesn't Japan has its own anti-discrimination laws?

The Japan News (The Yomiuri Shimbun) despite its brief coverage of the court decision ran a longer editorial two days later. It begins:

The Kyoto District Court’s recent ruling on an ethnic discrimination case stated that a derogatory street campaign aimed at inciting ethnic discrimination constituted an unlawful act. The court decision can be seen as compatible with socially accepted moral norms.

Later it states:

...caution must be exercised in restricting hate speech.

Huh? But wait, there's more:

...it should be noted that when it comes to thinking about discrimination, Japan’s historical background greatly differs from that of Europe, where there still is a clear memory of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis.

The Japanese government has been cautious about laying down legal restraints on potentially discriminatory speech and behavior, wary that such legislation might infringe on freedom of expression, a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.

If such legal restrictions are in place, it would be difficult to draw a line between what is lawful and what is not. That could prompt public authorities to impose legal restrictions in a manner that would serve their own interests. There also is no denying that such legislation would discourage people from exercising their legitimate right to express their opinions. Given this, the government should adhere to its cautious stance on such legal restrictions.

Link to the whole editorial, "Hate speech ruling laudable, but restrictions must be limited," October 10, 2013: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000710714

It seems that there is no clear memory of Japanese imperialism and its colonization of Korea, which can be seen as the cause of this particular court case. How did Koreans get to Japan in the first place?

The Asahi Shimbun in its editorial acknowledged the difficulty in Japan drafting its own anti-discrimination laws:

Imposing any restriction on people’s expression of thought and opinion is tricky because of the difficulty in drawing the line of acceptability.

There are also concerns about the possibility that such legal restrictions can be used arbitrarily. The issue requires careful and cautious debate.

But it concludes:

It is vital for Japanese society as a whole to share the view that discrimination is absolutely unacceptable and take a harsh stance against any words and actions that incite discrimination. By accumulating such efforts, we need to prevent our own society from falling into a vicious cycle of hate begetting hate.

Link to the whole editorial, "Kyoto court ruling a strong warning against hatemongers," October 8, 2013: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/AJ201310080028

In 2006 Chiba was the first prefecture to draft and pass an ordinance to prohibit discrimination against disabled people. The ordinance included examples of what constitutes discrimination, mediation, coordination and corrective orders to remedy the situation. But in the end there were no penalty clauses if the discrimination continued. The Daily Yomiuri ("Chiba finds helping disabled no easy task," 2006) covered this story and quoted one Chiba official:

"No one opposes the elimination of discrimination against handicapped people, but there was no precedent of a public system for procedures to eliminate discriminatory actions, partly because of the difficulty in clearly defining what constitutes discrimination."

Unfortunately I can't find the original story on the internet anymore, but here is a link to general information about the Chiba ordinance: http://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/newsinbrief-en/section2/2006/10/chiba-became-the-first-prefecture-in-japan-that-prohibits-discrimination-against-people-with-disabil.html

It seems as if the Japanese  really don't understand what discrimination is, they should study this ordinance, the international treaty they signed and this recent court decision.

"Men yell 'children of spies' at Korean school in Kyoto"

Story from Japan Today, 12/19/09:

A group of around 10 men yelled "children of spies" through a bullhorn at the main gate of a Korean elementary school in the city of Kyoto earlier this month, sources with knowledge of the matter said Friday. Around 170 children were at the school at the time. Regarding the act as a hate crime, the school will file a criminal complaint against the men with the Kyoto prefectural police next week, the sources said.

As the school was keeping some of its equipment in a municipal government-controlled park in front of its building, the group went to protest against "the illegal occupation," according to its leader, Makoto Sakurai.

Since the school does not have a schoolyard, it uses the park for gym classes. While the municipal government has allowed the school to use the park, the school and neighboring residents were expected to discuss the matter early next year.

Video footage shot by the school showed some of the men carrying the equipment and asking school officials to open the gate. The officials told the men, "This is a school," but they yelled, "This is not a school," and, "Let’s push Korean schools out of Japan."

They yelled a whole lot of other bad things as well, which can be seen/heard on the YouTube clip above. Here is some supporting text that goes along with the video:

In Japan, discrimination against the Korean minority who live in Japan since the colonial period is rampant. One can easily find abusive comments on Internet and some go as far as to threaten school children.

Kyoto Korean Primary School 1 does not have a school field and is using a park next to it for sports and assemblies.

The right wing activists accuse the school claimingly on behalf of the neighborhood and make protests by removing the speaker/platform and giving strong verbal insults.

While I am happy and surprised to see this story in the news (this kind of thing goes on way too often in Japan, usually unreported) I am saddened that this sort of thing still happens. Demonstrations are supposed to be about peace, not racism and hatred. I first heard of this about a week ago from Korean-Japanese friends in Kyoto. Not only were there students from the school behind the gates but students from 3 other Korean schools were visiting on a fieldtrip. And the group of "demonstrators" seems to be made up of the same people who demonstrated against the deaf Korean-Japanese court case (a group of deaf Korean-Japanese sued the government because they were not receiving social welfare benefits the same as other Japanese deaf people; the case went all the way to the supreme court where they lost - read more here.)

Let's hope for more media exposure and an end to this kind of racism/discrimination.