Citizens Debate Held Regarding Restoration of Nagoya Castle and Discriminatory Remarks Against Disabled

From Barrier Free Japan, extract from The Chunichi Shimbun

December 19 2023

NAGOYA – On December 18th, the Nagoya City Citizen Debate Committee held its fourth meeting on the issue of discriminatory comments made against disabled people during a citizens’ debate on the Nagoya Castle wooden restoration project. The city presented a draft of the interim report, which it aims to publish by the end of the year, and the committee members expressed their opinions. The meeting was closed to the public.

The preliminary draft is a compilation of the facts on the day of the debate held in June and the opinions expressed by the committee members at previous meetings. On the basis of the preliminary report, the committee discussed the ‘problems of the debate’ that could have led to the discriminatory comments.

The Mayor of Nagoya Takashi Kawamura expressed concerns at the time that a public meeting on June 3rd 2023 that some participants made discriminatory remarks against people with disabilities at a public debate held on June 3rd regarding barrier-free measures for the Nagoya Castle tower, which the city of Nagoya is aiming to restore as a wooden structure. 

At a public debate held on June 3rd regarding barrier-free measures when restoring the wooden castle tower of Nagoya Castle, some participants said that an elevator that can go up to the top floor, which groups for the disabled and others are calling for, is unnecessary. Some were claiming that this was a discriminatory remark that made fun of people with disabilities.

Nagoya City, which hosted the debate, canceled the release of the video of the debate, saying it was an inappropriate remark.

At the time Kawamura said: “It is a place where citizens can speak freely, but it does not mean that they can say anything, so I think I should have said, “Please be careful.” I apologize. Basically, I want to cherish freedom of expression. It’s pretty scary to ban people from speaking.”