Satoshi Fukushima, 38, will become the first blind and deaf person to teach at the University of Tokyo when he takes up his new post as an expert on welfare and barrier-free access for people with disabilities, university officials said.

Satoshi Fukushima

Fukushima, assistant professor of education at Kanazawa University in Ishikawa Prefecture, will take up a new post at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo, or Todai. The university is widely considered the nation's best state-run higher learning institution.

It will be the first time for a blind and deaf person to teach at Todai, university officials said Monday.

Fukushima on Monday held a press conference at the research center, located in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, followed by a question-and-answer session at which reporters' questions were translated simultaneously for him by his aides using a tactile form of communication.

Fukushima, from Kobe, expressed his hope with a metaphor: "I want to become a catalyst for a chemical reaction called barrier-free and start chain reactions with the people around me."

After first losing his eyesight at the age of 9, Fukushima lost his hearing when he was 18.

"It will be a good stimulus for students knowing there is a handicapped teacher like me," Fukushima said.

Fukushima is expected to hold a seminar for graduate students at the center as well as give lectures to undergraduate students in the education department.