Tag - disability

 
 

DISABILITY

Kuniko Takahashi, whose 24-year-old son Kotaro has cerebral palsy, had not worked for about 30 years before she joined Cafe de Chill Mill in Sendai. She now happily tells her husband that she is going to work whenever he asks her about her plans.
JAPAN / Society
May 20, 2024
Sendai cafe offers work to families of children with medical needs
Staffers at the cafe work when their children are receiving care or attending schools for special educational needs.
Ryo Wakabayashi, a distal myopathy patient, lives alone in the city of Fukushima.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 20, 2024
Persistence pays off with approval of distal myopathy drug
The disease is estimated to affect only 300 to 400 people in Japan.
People involved in an appeal trial over forced sterilization head to the Osaka High Court in February 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024
Japan's top court to take measures for disabled plaintiffs
It will be the first time for the top court to implement measures for disabled people on a large scale.
Pasona plans to use cartilage conduction technology for headsets for staff and guide earphones for visitors in its exhibition at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
JAPAN / Society
May 15, 2024
Pasona to promote cartilage conduction technology
The firm plans to use the technology for headsets for staff and for audio guides in its exhibition at the 2025 Osaka expo.
A staff member works at the animation studio Shake Hands in Kyoto on Jan. 24. The studio aims to provide job training and confidence to people with autism.
JAPAN / Society
May 5, 2024
Anime studio draws on talent of autistic artists
The groundbreaking initiative aims to provide job training and confidence to people with autism.
From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
PODCAST / deep dive
Apr 16, 2024
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think
We discuss everything from accessibility in Tokyo to dealing with trains and the country’s shifting attitudes.
An audio work by Saga University's Art Works to Listen and Imagine project is available on the internet.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 8, 2024
Experiencing art exhibitions through listening
Events and exhibitions are being held to encourage visitors to appreciate artworks with their ears and imagination.
Ben Binyamin attends a training session for the Israel amputee soccer team in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on March 28.
SOCCER
Apr 3, 2024
Oct. 7 survivor is now a star of Israel's amputee soccer team
Six months after the attack, Ben Binyamin is the rock at the heart of the defense for Israel's national amputee soccer team.
Hundreds lined up at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, which came to Japan for a 50-day exhibition.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Apr 1, 2024
Japan Times 1974: Some troubles reported at Mona Lisa's opening
Fifty years ago, a woman made a statement on the rights of the physically disabled by splashing paint on the Mona Lisa in Tokyo.
A Sapporo municipal official uses a telephone relay service at the city office in April last year.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 14, 2024
Phone relay service helps hard of hearing government staff
The service facilitates communication for workers hard of hearing and those with speech impediments by connecting them with operators online.
Japan's revised law on eliminating discrimination against people with disabilities is scheduled to take effect in April.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2024
Websites in Japan becoming more friendly to people with disabilities
Japan's revised law on eliminating discrimination against people with disabilities is scheduled to take effect in April.
Koichi Kondo plays the harmonica. Playing harmonica was like life itself for members of the Bluebird Band, according to his words.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 4, 2024
Harmonica melodies of Hansen's disease patients live on
A band featuring the instrument was founded in 1953, at a time when prejudice against the disease was still strong
Older people take part in a rhythm game competition at Chiba City Hall on Oct. 17.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2024
Esports gain traction at welfare facilities in Japan
Esports is being used in part with the aim of preserving cognitive functions in elderly people.
Residents of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, take part in an evacuation drill in March 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 1, 2024
More than decade after 2011 quake, Japan still slow to compile evacuation plans
The nation has failed to make progress in crafting plans to help evacuate elderly people and people with disabilities in the event of natural disasters.
Alex “Rami-chan” Ramirez
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Mar 1, 2024
Baseball star Alex Ramirez’s NPO helps special kids
Founder of Vamos Together, Venezuelan Alex Ramirez played for Yakult Swallows and Yomiuri Giants, then became manager of the Yokohama DeNa BayStars
Diagnosed at a young age with a rare variant of glycogen storage disease type IV, Mark Bookman went on to distinguish himself in academia in both the United States and Japan.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Feb 19, 2024
New film honors life and legacy of disability pioneer Mark Bookman
Free screenings of THE new documentary on Japan-based disability rights advocate Mark Bookman will be held around Tokyo on Feb. 24, 25 and 27.
Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink, but experts says his statements raised more questions than they answered about the trial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024
Want details on Musk's brain implant trial? You'll have to ask him
Neuralink does not have to divulge even basic details about its trial, including the facility where patients are being implanted.
Aissam Dam, 11, the first person to receive gene therapy in the U.S. for congenital deafness, signs to an interpreter during an interview at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on Jan. 16.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 28, 2024
'Game changer': Gene therapy offers hope for children born deaf
The treatment focuses on a rare genetic mutation that affects only a small number of the 26 million people with congenital deafness globally.
Roberta Wilson-Garrett, who has Parkinson's disease, poses with her GyroGlove, made by GyroGear, which uses a gyroscope to help stabilize tremors before this week's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2024
High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors
GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Taiwanese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.
Watanabe has made shapes of (from left) a monkey, an elephant and a giraffe by folding oak leaves with his hands.
CULTURE / Art / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 8, 2024
Kumamoto artist embodies re-evaluation of 'outsider art’ in Japan
Dubbed a "genius autistic paper cutout artist," Yoshihiro Watanabe's works are now being alongside those by trained artists.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’