Disability News Japan Podcast: Hiroshima Mazda Car Dealer’s TikTok Video Imitating Wheelchair Users Causes Firestorm Online

By Barrier Free Japan

May 3 2023

HIROSHIMA – In response to the spread of a video of a Hiroshima Mazda employee in an electric wheelchair imitating a disabled person and laughing, which caused a firestorm, Hiroshima Mazda released a written statement on April 30 explaining that it never intended to make fun of the disabled person.

The video in question appears to have originally been posted on “TikTok,” but in late April a third party shared it on Twitter in the form of criticism of a Hiroshima Mazda employee playing with an electric wheelchair to imitate a disabled person.

The video was so bad that it caused a firestorm because it showed a man in a uniform with the “MAZDA” logo on it riding in an electric wheelchair and operating it by tilting his head while slightly sticking out his lips and tongue as if imitating a disabled person, and the filmer who saw it laughed and said, “One more time!”

The Japanese online website ‘Livedoor’ reported that “It is believed that the photo was taken by an employee and posted on social media in late April. One of the employees in a wheelchair acted like he was imitating a person with a disability, and the surrounding laughter was heard.”

Livedoor also reported that “Ichiro Yamane, President of Hiroshima Mazda Motor Corporation, apologized, saying, “I made everyone who saw the video feel very uncomfortable.” He explained, “As a company, we are strictly warning against careless behavior, and the employee in question is also deeply reflecting on it.”

A spokesperson for Hiroshima Mazda said, “We recognize that the thoroughness of our employee training up to now has not been sufficient. Although we did not intend to do so, we have made thorough efforts to understand how the other side will perceive us, both when we joined the company and during subsequent training. I think we have to go forward,” he said.

Episode Notes: Video of Hiroshima Mazda Employee Imitating Wheelchair User Starts Social Media Firestorm in Japan: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2023/05/01/video-of-hiroshima-mazda-employee-imitating-wheelchair-user-starts-social-media-firestorm-in-japan/