Peace Message Delivered in Sign Language…

Posted on September 1, 2003 in other, Japanese Deaf News

from September 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

…by A Deaf Survivor at the A-Bomb Memorial Peace Ceremony in Nagasaki

Ms. Eiko Yamazaki delivering her
“Peace Message” in Sign Language
(Photo provided by the Nagasaki News)

“My responsibility as a survivor of the atomic-bombing, is to continue to speak on behalf of the many Deaf hibakusha who died… to continue to speak about all the things that I saw and felt.”

On August 9, at the 58th Peace Ceremony in Nagasaki in Memory of the Victims of the Atomic Bomb, a Deaf lady, Ms. Eiko Yamazaki, 76, represented the surviving A-bomb victims and delivered her “Peace Message” in sign language. Ms. Yamazaki used her hands and body eloquently and succeeded in conveying the full impact of her experiences and importance of her message. Her Peace Message in sign language touched the hearts of the participants and many looked on with tears in their eyes.

The appointment of a Deaf person to deliver the Peace Message on behalf of the surviving A-bomb victims was the result of persevering peace activities conducted by the Nagasaki Association of the Deaf and the Nagasaki Division of the National Study Association for Sign Language Interpretation. Such endeavors were recognized by other hibakusha groups and led to the realization of Ms. Yamazaki’s Peace Message.

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ESCAP’s role in poor countries – Eiichi Takada

Posted on August 1, 2003 in international activities, Online Resources

Thematic Working Group on Disability-related Concerns (TWGDC) Sixth Session

Answer for post-meeting questionnaire regarding ESCAP’s role in poor countries during the Asian Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons

Eiichi Takada – Board Member, World Federation of the Deaf

What can ESCAP do for the poor countries in this region?

The goal of the United Nations in relation to disability issues is “full participation and equality”. Here in the ESCAP region, we also have the goals set forth in the “Biwako Millennium Framework”. I believe that endeavors undertaken in accordance with the BMF should consequently result in the alleviation of poverty. We should also ensure that our endeavors would ultimately cover poverty issues. In order to realize the goals of the BMF, we need to follow the following procedures:

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What’s Going to Happen to Deaf Education?

Posted on August 1, 2003 in education, Japanese Deaf News

from August 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

Report on Recent Movements

More and more people are beginning to express concern about the current situation and future of Deaf education. Delegates from different parts of Japan to the General Assembly of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf (JFD), held in June in Yamanashi Prefecture, actively exchanged opinions on this issue. The General Assembly reached a consensus on the following points: (1) grave concern about the “Special Support Education” policy by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), (2) clarification of JFD’s standpoint concerning the “Human Rights Relief Statement” submitted by the Japan Deaf Children and Parents Association to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, (3) serious apprehensions about the newborn baby auditory screening test and cochlear implants, (4) need to guarantee substantial education to children with combined disabilities, (5) concern about the future of children who received education in a mainstream environment, and others.

The standpoint and views of JFD concerning these issues are explained in the Resolution of the National Congress of the Deaf entitled “Toward the Improvement and Development of Deaf Education”:

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Symposium on Hearing Screening for Newborn Infants

Posted on July 1, 2003 in education, Japanese Deaf News

from July 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

Protestors Demand Immediate Discontinuation of the Screening Test

The “Symposium on Hearing Screening for Newborn Infants” was held on May 18 at the Tokyo Olympic Youth Center, attended by about 200 people, including teachers of Deaf schools, otolaryngologists, social workers, parents of children with hearing impairments, and members of organizations of the Deaf.

The morning session consisted of presentations by 3 speakers. Mr. Jun Mishina of Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Maternity and Childcare Center showed a video introducing the screening test, and explained that the test enabled early detection. Ms. Keiko Kawasaki of Bukkyo University, Clinical Psychology Research Center explained that a stable relationship between the mother and infant has positive influences on character formation. Ms. Yoko Matubara of Ritsumeikan University Graduate Division, Department of Comprehensive Advanced Academic Research stressed that “those involved would have to present both the risks and benefits of such screening, and work together with the administrative, medical, and other professionals to reevaluate the structure of newborn infant screening.”

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UNESCAP Moving Forward Toward the Realization of An International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Posted on July 1, 2003 in Convention on Persons with Disabilities, Japanese Deaf News

from July 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

“Bangkok Recommendations” Adopted

Expert Group Meeting and Seminar
(WFD Board Member Eiichi Takada on left)

Executive Committee Members of the
National Association of the Deaf in Thailand
attending the Expert Group Meeting and Seminar

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) hosted the “Expert Group Meeting and Seminar on an International Convention to Protect and Promote the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities” from June 2-4, 2003 at the UNESCAP Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand. Eiichi Takada of Japan attended the meeting in his position as Board Member of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD).

The meeting opened with an address by Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP and the presentation of a message sent by Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, who is the Chairman of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The conference was attended by about 130 people, including representatives of SHO of persons with disabilities, governments, UN agencies, related bodies, and resource persons. Among the attendees were Mr. Abdullah Wardak, Minister of Martyrs and Disabled of Afghanistan, Mr. Andrew Byrnes, Professor of the Faculty of Law of the Australian National University, Mr. Clinton Edward Rapley, and others. Discussions and presentations centered on the contents of the proposed International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. On the last day, the conference adopted the “Bangkok Recommendations on the Elaboration of a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. The conference itself and the Bangkok Recommendations reveal that UNESCAP is strongly committed to the realization of the convention.

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“Report from Japan” by WFD Board Member Eiichi Takada

Posted on June 10, 2003 in Convention on Persons with Disabilities, Online Resources

compiled for the Expert Group Meeting and Seminar on an International Convention to Protect and Promote the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities Bangkok, Thailand 2-4 June 2003

1. Introduction

The International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981 and the subsequent “United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983~1992” aroused the Japanese government, as well as persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their organizations to strive toward the achievement of “Full Participation and Equality”. This movement was further carried on into the “Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993~2002”, and by the end of this decade in 2002, Japan had made tremendous advances. Japan can be seen as a case in which the initiative of the United Nations and other international organizations effectively and positively influenced the country’s domestic development.

However, Japan started out with such meager infrastructures to protect the rights of PWDs that, in spite of movements by PWDs and their organizations, and efforts by the government to respond to these movements, it is still left with many problems and issues to be solved. These are challenges to be carried over into the “Second Asian and Pacific Decade, 2003~2012”.

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What Will Happen To Our Deaf Schools?

Posted on June 1, 2003 in education, Japanese Deaf News

from June 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Draws Up the Final Report on “Special Needs Education”

On March 28, “The Meeting of Cooperators for Research and Studies on Special Needs Education” drafted its final report on the basic policies concerning education for children with disabilities. The theme of the final report is “(A shift in focus) from places offering education to educational contents to support diversified individual needs”. The report aims to increase educational opportunities within the community, in the context of normalization, giving due respect to the diversified needs arising from severe or combined disabilities and changing situations.

The report aims to maintain the functions of the former specialized education system, while at the same time recommends ways to enable more flexible measures such as the establishment of a consistent counseling system to support children with disabilities and their guardians from infancy until the children graduate from school, the revision of the level of disability for placing children in Deaf schools, etc., provision of a broad range of support to cater for children and students with learning disabilities (LD) and other diversified disabilities. Furthermore, the report stresses the need for education, social welfare, medical, and other related community institutions to offer appropriate support to enable children and students to live independently in the community.

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Support and Care To the Deaf

Posted on May 1, 2003 in Japanese Deaf News

from May 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

In the Community… In A Well-equipped Facility with Trained Personnel

Deaf friends express joy over the opening
of the new Day Service Center in Yosa

In spite of the fact that there is still an acute lack of social infrastructures to support the lives of persons with disabilities in Japan, our government started the new support aid system for persons with disabilities in April, 2003.

It is extremely meaningful, therefore, that on April 1, the Kyoto Social Welfare Association for the Deaf and the Osaka Social Welfare Association for the Deaf newly opened the “Day Service Center for the Deaf” and the “Care Service Center for Persons with Disabilities” respectively, as social infrastructures to support the lives of the Deaf.

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Survey and Research Consigned by the National Police Agency on the Relationship Between Safe Driving and Hearing Ability

Posted on April 1, 2003 in survey and research, Japanese Deaf News

from April 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

Full of Discriminative and Biased Views

“Hearing-Impaired Drivers Are Dangerous to Both People and Cars”

Article 88 of the Road Traffic Law contained a clause saying, “Those who cannot hear are not eligible to receive a drivers’ license”. This clause, disqualifying hearing-impaired persons from acquiring a drivers’ license, was finally abolished in 2001. However, the aptitude test for drivers still requires a hearing test, so that in actual practice, the situation has seen little improvement, even after the revision of the Law. The only ray of hope was the Diet resolution accompanying the enactment of the Law stating that, “(Authorities) should ensure that (actual practices) do not become disqualifying factors”.

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Four Disability Organizations Join Hands in Protest

Posted on March 1, 2003 in other, Japanese Deaf News

from March 2003 Issue of Japanese Deaf News, JFD’s monthly newspaper:

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Withdraws Its Plan to Set An Upper Limit to Financial Aid for Home Help Services for Disabled Persons

Support Given Until Now Will Be Maintained in Full

Over 1000 people gathered at the Ministry of Health,
Labour and Welfare for protest action which continued
until late at night (Jan. 16)

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s decision to restrict the provision of financial aid for home help services for disabled persons from FY 2003 (starting April 1, 2003), met with strong opposition from organizations of disabled persons. On January 27, the Ministry finally conceded to alter the plan so as to maintain the level of services which had been provided until now, by introducing an “adjustment subsidy” system as an interim measure.

On January 16, over 1000 persons with disabilities gathered at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for a large-scale protest demonstration saying that “fixing regulations for the provision of financial aid will, in effect, set an upper limit to the amount of services which can be received”. On January 24, the Cabinet Office and the Special Committee on Disability of the Liberal Democratic Party held a joint meeting to discuss this issue. At this meeting, the representative of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare commented that the regulations for the provision of financial aid are not meant to fix an upper limit, that the former subsidy will be maintained 100% by introducing an adjustment subsidy, and that these measures will be explained at the conference of the prefectural directors to be held on the 28th. The adjustment subsidy system was explained to be an interim measure.

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