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.
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.
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.”
A foreign Paralympian has been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19, the first such case among athletes either at the Tokyo Olympics or Paralympics, the games organizing committee said Thursday.
Disability News Japan Episode 79: Toyota’s Driverless Bus Restarts in Paralympic Village After Injury and Aghanistan Paralympian Competes
Hossain Rasouli became the first athlete representing Afghanistan to take part in the Tokyo Paralympics, a feat that looked impossible when it appeared the country’s team would be unable to travel safely to Japan to be part of the world’s largest sporting event for people with disabilities, which started a week ago.
The driverless bus service was suspended after one of Toyota’s e-Palette autonomous electric buses hit a Paralympian, Japanese judoka Aramitsu Kitazono, who was trying to cross an intersection in the village, around 2 p.m. on Thursday.
Barrier Free Japan