Category: Podcast

Disability Elderly Japan Podcast QR Code Shog.A.I. Shimbun Technology

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #12: You’ll be Elderly in Japan, Use QR Codes and You’ll be Happy

In a country notorious for its reliance on cash, municipalities across Japan have been staging electronic payment uptake drives to stimulate digitalized consumption by granting shopping points for transactions using QR codes.

Some remain reluctant, especially elderly people and others who find digital devices difficult to operate, and who continue to view cash as the be-all and end-all for making purchases.

Barrier Free Japan NHK Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

Sho Kawai, Japanese Philosopher with Cerebral Palsy to Ask ‘Questions, Questions’ on New NHK Program

Japan’s NHK has produced a new program that explores “questions” through dialogue with a wide variety of people, including doctors who understand the language of birds, philosophers, businessmen, people with drug addictions and intellectual disabilities, and designers! How would you answer?

鳥の言葉がわかる博士、哲学者、ビジネスマン、薬物依存症や知的障害のある人、デザイナーなど…多様な人たちとの対話で「問い」を探求する新番組!あなたならどう答える?

Barrier Free Disability Japan Podcast Technology

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #11: Osaka Company Develops Smart Remote Control for People with Disabilities

‘Access Yell’, a venture company based in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture that manufactures assistive devices for people with disabilities, has developed a smart remote control for televisions that is easy to operate for people with physical disabilities, and began selling it at the end of 2023.

Barrier Free Disability Entertainment Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun Wheelchair

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #10: Aeon Cinema Chain Apologizes Over Access Debacle

The day after Ryoko Nakajima made the post, Aeon Entertainment, which operates the cinema chain, issued an apology:

“It has come to our attention that an Aeon Entertainment employee made an inappropriate comment to a customer while assisting the customer to move to another location after the customer had finished watching a movie. We regret the incident and believe that it was caused by a lack of guidance to our employees.”

Barrier Free Disability Entertainment Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun Wheelchair

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #9: Social Media Responds to Wheelchair User’s Post about Cinema Access

The incident took place at an Aeon cinema in Tokyo, which is regularly used by Ryoko Nakajima, a wheelchair-using woman. TBS reported that: “The woman watched the movie not from the wheelchair-only space, but from a reclining seat with four steps.” When Ryoko Nakajima posted about this incident on social media, in which she said she would be refused admission to the cinema next time, it went viral. People on social media, or Social Network System (SNS) had a variety of opinions, here are some examples with the ‘poster’s’ name removed.

Barrier Free Entertainment Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun Wheelchair

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #8: Wheelchair User Denied Accessible Space at Tokyo Cinema

The Shog-A.I. Shimbun goes to the movies, sort of…An incident took place at a cinema in Tokyo, which is usually used by a woman in a wheelchair. TBS reported that: “The woman watched the movie not from the wheelchair-only space, but from a reclining seat with four steps.”
The woman paid an additional fee and watched the movie in a reclining seat, rather than in the wheelchair-only space.

Barrier Free Disability Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #6: The Spring Equinox Holiday Edition!

The Spring equinox, March 20th 2024 is a national holiday in Japan! There is sakura and a Shog-A.I. Shimbun episode! Today’s episode mentions an NPO in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture that has begun an initiative to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the agricultural field. Michey Peckitt in A.I. mode also talks a bit about the derogatory language that is sometimes used in both LGBT+ and disability journalism.

Barrier Free Gender Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #5: Japan Gender Identity Society Renamed to Avoid Medicalized Language

What was formerly the GID (Gender Identity Disorder) Society, which promotes research on transgender people whose minds and bodies do not match, officially announced at its general meeting held in Okinawa Prefecture on March 17th that it will change its name. The change, announced Sunday at its general meeting, is in line with the World Health Organization’s recent advice to use the term “gender incongruence” instead of “gender disorder.” The society’s new English name is yet to be formally decided.

Barrier Free Disability Japan Podcast Shog.A.I. Shimbun

Disability News Japan Podcast: The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #4: McDonalds App Fail A Barrier to News Stories!

Ok, this is a bit of fun, but behind it are two serious points. Firstly since the term ‘shogai’ or ‘障害’ can mean ‘failure’, ‘obstacle’ as well as ‘disability’, the algorithm Gods of Google won’t quickly show up recent news stories about disability in Japan because everyone is talking about the McDonald’s App ‘fail’ that happened on Friday.

Secondly, a reliance on technology to accomplish tasks like buying food is also a concern for me as a person with disabilities.

I’m not always lovin’ it.