Law graduate Yusuke Hatsuse says he thought his college degree and national sports success would make him an attractive recruit for Japan's best-known employers. When none invited him for interviews, he applied for virtually every job he could find.

"I only heard back from two companies, and only one offered me a position," Hatsuse recalls of his hunt for work in Tokyo nine years ago.

Legally blind, the 34-year-old learned firsthand the reluctance of Japanese companies to interview disabled job candidates, let alone hire them. The judoka Paralympian eventually established his own consulting company, Universal Style, which has helped more than 30 disabled people find work.