Recent reports made by Japan’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Transport regarding the elderly and people with disabilities are arguably a kind of good news/bad news situation.
TokiAir, an airline that began service last month, posted information on its website for passengers. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) pointed out that some expressions on the website could be misinterpreted as requiring disabled persons to be accompanied by an escort on a uniform basis. In response, the company changed the content and commented that it did not intend to discriminate.
Before he died, Mark was working on a new project with an organization that would help organizations such as governments & businesses include people with disabilities called ‘GLIDE’ or ‘Global Leaders in International Disability Education’. The documentary “Mark – A Call to Action” produced by GLIDE will premiere in February 2024 in Tokyo.
Registration application form to attend the premiere in Tokyo in February 2024: https://woobox.com/cg5e8w?fbclid=IwAR27Kqy-ObiWOJ1rhGEYDckuAqwbcVUWYIJK0YPngV4BrjoTZPBSUYf_PRM
GLIDE: https://www.glidefund.org
The team, led by Ms. Misuzu Hojo, 31, who herself is visually impaired, has devised a makeup method using the fingers of both hands and has been spreading the method through lectures. At a ceremony held in Tokyo on January 29th Ms. Hojo expressed her dream: “In the future, I would like to hold a fashion show where visually impaired people who put on their own makeup can stand on stage and enjoy the show, even if they are blind or have difficulty seeing.”
The photograph was taken at my local train station in Kobe. The station itself is quite accessible to a person with disabilities like myself. However, there is one small problem when one enters the station, because those who enter the station, enter what I like to call an ‘empire of QR codes’.
‘But isn’t that ok, maybe even accessible’ I hear you say? But, I find it difficult to hold my body still for a lengthy period of time because it spasms, it took me more than ten minutes to take this photo, imagine how much time it would take for me to scan a QR code.
The photograph shows my local train station in Kobe. The station itself is quite accessible to a person with disabilities like myself. However, there is one small problem when one enters the station, because those who enter the station, enter what I like to call an ‘empire of QR codes’. ‘But isn’t that ok, maybe even accessible’ I hear you say? But, I find it difficult to hold my body still for a lengthy period of time because it spasms, it took me more than ten minutes to take this photo, imagine how much time it would take for me to scan a QR code.
For a break from ‘earthquake news’, Barrier Free Japan talks about the prevalence of ‘QR codes’ at train stations in Japan and how this might affect accessibility.
The question is, will the increasing use of QR codes make it more difficult for some in Japan to use the railway?
After more than 400 years, the iconic Nagoya Castle is under siege, this time by those wanting to make it more accessible to wheelchair-users and those who are determined to keep it as original as possible.
At a town hall meeting on the planned reconstruction of the castle here on June 3, a man scolded a wheelchair-user.
“Don’t confuse equality with your selfishness,” the man said. “How dare you be so selfish.”
After more than 400 years, the iconic Nagoya Castle is under siege, this time by those wanting to make it more accessible to wheelchair-users and those who are determined to keep it as original as possible.
At a town hall meeting on the planned reconstruction of the castle here on June 3, a man scolded a wheelchair-user.
“Don’t confuse equality with your selfishness,” the man said. “How dare you be so selfish.”
A ryokan at the Ikaho Onsen hot springs resort in Gunma Prefecture has a solid history of caring about guests with disabilities.
Back in the 1990s, a guest at the traditional Japanese-style inn started complaining vociferously in the hotel’s bathhouse after finding it soiled by disabled guests.
Tomoko Matsumoto, now 80, was the inn’s proprietress at the time. She apologized profusely to the irate guest, bowing over and over.
But the guest could not be appeased, and even started suggesting the disabled guests should have been refused admittance to the ryokan in the first place.
That was the last straw for Matsumoto. She told the guest: “I want you to move to another ryokan. But these (disabled) people have nowhere else to go. This is the only ryokan they can stay at.”
Back then, few inns were wheelchair-accessible and able to openly welcome patrons with disabilities.
Barrier Free Japan