Tag - disability

 
 

DISABILITY

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
Nao walks down the runway as a guest model during Paris Fashion Week.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 4, 2024
Japanese model with Down syndrome fulfills dream at Paris show
Parading down a runway in a kimono-inspired dress, Nao Saito's appearance at Paris Fashion Week came after five years of hard work.
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
Hiroki Matsubara (right) and Yamato, who has Down syndrome, are pictured in Nara in November. Matsubara founded Migiwa, which aims to protect unwanted babies and help place them with new families through plenary adoption.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 27, 2024
New families sought for children with disabilities via adoption
The majority of the approximately 50 cases nonprofit Migiwa takes on each year involve children with disabilities.
Women in a cotton field at a welfare facility in Yamanashi Prefecture in the film "Fujiyama Cottonton." The film aims to show audiences the everyday lives of people with disabilities.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2024
New documentary offers a look at life with disabilities in Japan
"Fujiyama Cottonton" shows how people at a welfare facility live full lives by communicating and pursuing simple passions.
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.
People gather at a park in the city of Rikuzentakata in Iawate Prefecture to pray on March 11 last year, the 12th anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 12, 2024
Disabled account for over 20% of 2010s Japan disaster-linked deaths
The figures are particularly high when compared with the proportion of disabled people in the population, which the central government estimates at 9%.
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.
Hiroko Higashino, who was born with three fingers on her right hand, plays an AI-powered piano during a rehearsal for a Christmas concert in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2023
AI-assisted piano allows disabled Tokyo musicians to perform Beethoven
To assist players, the Anybody's Piano tracks the notes of the music and augments the performance by adding whatever keys are needed but not pressed.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores