About

Barrier Free Japan is a news site about disability and disabled people in Japan.  It is ran by Michael Gillan Peckitt.

Born in Sheffield, the UK in 1978, Michael studied Philosophy at the University of Hull, obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in 2001 and his PhD in 2010.  He has had left-sided spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy since birth. He was a tutor at Hull University from 2003-2006.  From April 2012 until September 2013 he was an Honorary Visiting Researcher at the University of Tokyo. Michael was a tutorial assistant and later part time lecturer at Osaka University from 2013 until 2021. He has also worked at the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies and since 2022 he teaches at Doshisha University. He lives in Kobe, Japan.