A lawmaker with severe physical disabilities attended his first parliamentary interpellation Thursday since being elected in July and became the first lawmaker in Japan to use an electronically generated voice during a Diet session.
In the session of the education, culture and science committee, Yasuhiko Funago, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, greeted the committee using a speech synthesizer. He also asked questions through a proxy speaker.
"As a newcomer, I am still inexperienced, but with everyone's assistance, I will do my best to tackle (issues)," he said at the beginning of the session.