Many foreign nationals in Japan have struggled with the intricacies of the Japanese language, but imagine mastering Japanese sign language (JSL) on top of that. This is exactly what Danny Gong, the Osaka-based founder of DeafJapan, has done. Gong has become a bilingual ambassador, providing opportunities for hearing-impaired people in Japan to enjoy activities in English while also linking them up with the global community.
The son of deaf parents, the New York native first qualified as a nationally licensed sign language interpreter in American sign language (ASL). Incidentally, Gong also knows Hong Kong sign language as his parents originally hail from the former British colony. He initially came to Japan 10 years ago "for the challenge" and ended up staying.
After meeting people in the deaf community in Japan, Gong set himself the goal of mastering JSL. He points out that learning to sign in Japanese is actually easier than trying to learn Japanese the conventional way.