In the closing months of World War II, people with disabilities in Japan, like their able-bodied neighbors, desperately sought shelter from relentless air raids.
"I couldn't move my hands or legs because of the sounds of machine gun fire," recalled Isao Shirahata, an 89-year-old resident of the city of Kyoto, who is visually impaired. "Such a terrifying thing must never happen again."
Shirahata was born with low vision due to glaucoma. As a child, he lost sight in his left eye after accidentally striking it on a bicycle brake lever, leaving him with only limited vision in his right eye.
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