Episode links:

The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) confirmed the route of the Paralympic marathon events, following its approval by the World Para Athletics organization.

Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Marathon event classes announced: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/04/08/tokyo-2020-paralympics-marathon-classes-announced/

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Marathon Course Confirmed (via Accessible Japan @AccessibleJapan on Twitter): https://www.accessible-japan.com/tokyo-2020-paralympic-marathon-course-confirmed/

Episode links:

“[The] Japanese government[sic] announced the new era name on April 1st 2019. However, the JSL interpreter next to chief cabinet secretary made a mistake. The new era name is “Reiwa” which has two Chinerse characters – ‘rei’ and ‘wa’ However, the deaf signers figerspelling [sic] showed it as ‘Mei-wai’ the first broadcast. The TV broadcat will be reproduced many times in the future and many Deaf Japanese people might find the mistake again and again though hearing people would not notice the situation.”

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/04/01/whether-disabled-people-will-be-orderly-or-harmonious-at-least-the-reiwa-eras-name-in-japan-was-announced-with-sign-language/

Episode links:

The facility for people with intellectual disabilities called “Tsukui Yamayurien” in Sagamihara City where 19 people disabled people were killed on July 26th 2016, has been dismantled.

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/03/27/two-years-and-eight-months-after-massacre-of-disabled-people-sagamihara-care-home-is-dismantled/

Episode links:

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/03/14/hyogo-prefectural-police-instructed-pay-compensation-over-illegal-dna-collection-from-intellectually-disabled-man/

The director of a hospital in Fussa, Tokyo, where a woman with a kidney ailment died after a surgeon discontinued dialysis on her with her consent, has admitted that he approved the surgeon's proposal to stop such treatment.

"In ordinary medical practices, doctors offer various options for treatment," Takeshi Matsuyama, head of Fussa Hospital in the western Tokyo city of Fussa, said in an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun.

Website links:

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/03/09/20-nonterminally-ill-patients-died-after-hospital-didnt-carry-out-dialysis-treatment/

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/03/12/hospital-head-approved-surgeons-proposal-to-stop-dialysis-for-kidney-disease-patients/

Barrier Free Japan went to JR Shibuya Station to see how accessible it might be for disabled people.

Website links (includes images & video):

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/03/07/attention-there-are-only-stairs-at-jr-shibuya-unless-you-take-the-south-ticket-gate/

Episode Weblink:

Yumi Suzuki, a woman with cerebral palsy, who is now 63 years old, filed a civil lawsuit at the Kobe District Court on Wednesday February 27th seeking compensation of 11 million yen for violations she experienced under the former Eugenic Protection Law, which was a law enforced in Japan from 1948 until 1996.

According to Yumi Suzuki, who is living in bed and was using a wheelchair from early childhood, she was taken to a hospital by the family in the spring of 1968, and was given an operation without explanation. Suzuki said she had forced sterilization surgery after 3 to 4 years after being hospitalized.

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/02/27/kobe-resident-with-cerebral-palsy-yumi-suzuki-files-civil-lawsuit-over-forced-sterilization/

A group representing disabled people in Japan has said the doorway width stipulated in a planned amendment of Tokyo's barrier-free ordinance for hotels is unlikely to be wide enough for many wheelchairs.

Under the Road Traffic Act, wheelchair users are regarded as pedestrians as long as the vehicle they ride in measures no more than 120 centimeters in length, 70 centimeters in width and 109 centimeters in height. Even in the case of an electric wheelchair, if the maximum speed was 6 kilometers or less per hour, the user is regarded as a pedestrian.

Episode Weblinks:

Disability group claims width mandated by Tokyo accessibility ordinance insufficient for wheelchairs: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/02/19/disability-group-claims-width-mandated-by-tokyo-accessibility-ordinance-insufficient-for-wheelchairs/

Man in wheelchair sues department store over wine-tasting refusal: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2018/11/22/man-in-wheelchair-sues-department-store-over-wine-tasting-refusal/

In “37 Seconds” Japanese director Hikari chose to tackle a topic that, she said, audiences in her country were reluctant to embrace. Her protagonist, played by amateur actress Mei Kayama, has cerebral palsy.

Episode Weblink:

Sex and disability make for a tenderly humorous Japanese drama:

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/02/14/sex-and-disability-make-for-tenderly-humorous-japanese-drama/

Accessibility & Japan Related Links:

Accessible Travel Forum: https://www.accessibletravelforum.com

Accessible Japan: https://www.accessible-japan.com

A novel titled ‘Moon’, which depicts a fictionalized version of the Sagamihara killing: was published in October 2018; and in late January 2019, two civil lawsuits were filed over forced sterilization, one in Kumamoto and the other in Osaka.

Episode Weblinks:

A novel titled ‘Moon’ depicts a fictionalized version of the Sagamihara killings: http://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/01/29/a-novel-titled-moon-depicts-a-fictionalized-version-of-the-sagamihara-killings/

Woman from Kumamoto forced to have abortion & sterilized: http://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/01/30/your-first-child-has-a-disability-the-second-will-not-grow-up-properly-either-japanese-woman-forced-to-abort-second-and-sterilized-under-eugenics-law-files-lawsuit/

Couple with hearing impairments file a lawsuit in Osaka over forced sterilization: http://barrierfreejapan.com/2019/01/31/i-want-the-country-to-apologize-couple-with-hearing-impairments-file-a-lawsuit-in-osaka-over-forced-sterilization/

Accessibility & Japan Related Links:

Accessible Travel Forum: https://www.accessibletravelforum.com

Accessible Japan: https://www.accessible-japan.com