A total of 323 coronavirus infections were recorded during the Tokyo Paralympics, the games’ organizing committee announced Wednesday, the same day the athletes’ village officially closed.
Broadcast via NHK’s educational channel, the deaf interpreters, for whom sign language is their first language, were able to convey more detailed and nuanced coverage of the Olympic closing ceremony and Paralympic opening ceremony by communicating information provided to them by signers who can hear.
Defendant Mizuno apologized in the final statement, crying, “I never hated the residents and I don’t know why I did that.”
Hotel Kazusaya in Nihombashi, Tokyo, reopened in summer last year following a major refurbishment carried out in sync with the original schedule of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The doorways of its guest rooms have been resized to 85 centimeters wide. At the stage of planning, the doorway width was set at 75 centimeters. But in 2019, the Tokyo metropolitan government amended its relevant ordinance for hotels. Under the new standard, the doorways of rooms in newly built hotels or newly added facilities must be “a minimum of 80 centimeters in breadth,” so that wheelchairs can get through the doorway easily.
The share of Japanese people with disabilities aged 7 to 19 who routinely engage in sports fell to 27.9 pct in 2020 from 30.7 pct in 2013.
The more popular sports like athletics and swimming were broadcast live, starting with the qualification rounds, during the Aug. 24-Sept. 5 games, but niche sports without Japanese medal contenders like powerlifting and taekwondo were absent.
“It’s been different. It’s not been the same games that we were used to,” said British wheelchair tennis player Jordanne Whiley, who was competing in her fourth Paralympics.
The mortality rate for COVID-19 among people with pre-existing health conditions such as chronic kidney disease is about 5.6 times greater than that of people without such illnesses, a survey by Japan’s health ministry showed Saturday.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday he has been impressed by the performances of athletes “overcoming difficulties” and competing at the Tokyo Paralympics, voicing hope to continue promoting the spirit of “barrier free.”
神戸市で暮らし、脳性まひのあるイギリス人学者マイケル・ギラン・ペキットさんは、「当初、事件は日本に大きな影響を及ぼした。メディアはかなりの間、障害者への接し方や介護制度について疑問を呈していた。しかし時間がたつと、人々の関心は移っていく」と話す。
