October 25, 2011 : Lectures : Contemporary Disability Movements in Japan
Today the participants attended two lectures on history of Japanese disability movement.
In the morning, they welcomed the chairperson of the Japan Federation of the Blind in Seminar Room 18.
After hearing self-introductions by the participants, the lecturer discussed the establishment of the Federation in the late 1940s with support from Helen Keller, the world-famous deafblind author and social activist, and how it evolved and impacted on society since then.
The disability movement in Japan was initially led by the blind, he said, but gradually involved people with other types of disabilities. He explained how people with differing types of disabilities raise a united voice and simultaneously campaign for individual needs.
The participants asked the lecturer a number of questions and keenly learnt how disability movements are organized in Japan.
In the afternoon, the deputy-editor of the Resource Center for Disability Issues - Ribon Publisher and the Editorial Committee "Let's Go Out Like the Wind" arrived to give a lecture on the disability movements with a focus on the period of the 1970s. He illustrated a couple case studies of protests carried out by those with cerebral palsy.
The lecture was informative with rish sources of visual information. It also covered philosophies underlying the disability movement in Japan and how the disabled have been mistreated in society.
The participants seemed highly interested in learning about the disability movements and the thoughts accompanying them. They were also reflecting the lecture on the situations of their home countries.
Many thanks to the lecturers for their time and very interesting talks…!
