By Jay Andrew Allen

Disabled people face an uphill climb in Japanese society. Perhaps the lowest moment came in 2016, when a man murdered 19 disabled people at an extended care facility in Sagamihara, telling police afterwards that he thought “disabled people shouldn’t exist.” For many in the disabled community, the attack was a reminder at how little their lives are valued in a country that freely refers to them as 弱者 ( jakusha; weak/lesser people).

Some are working hard to change people’s perceptions. In particular, Yamamoto Tarou (山本太郎), the head of the new Reiwa Shinsegumi political party, has made waves by sponsoring two disabled candidates for office: Kimura Eiko (木村英子), 54, who has cerebral palsy, and Funago Yasuhiko (舩後（ふなご）靖彦), 61, who suffers from ALS.

But sometimes, for every step forward, you take two steps back. Two recent incidents highlight the prejudices disabled people battle daily. And both incidents, oddly, involve castles.

During a G20 summit meeting held in Osaka Castle (大阪城), Prime Minister Abe Shinzou put his foot in his mouth when he lauded the historic castle, but dissed the elevator the facility had added to make the upper levels accessible, calling the addition a “big miss.” His party’s Chief Secretary, Hagiuda Kouichi, later said that Abe found it “regrettable” that he said “something that could be heard as dismissive of the disabled.” Not exactly a three-star apology, but it was something. It appears even Abe could sense he was about to plunge head-first into another scandal.

(JP) Link: PM Abe Calls His Own “Big Miss” Comment “Regrettable”? “Unease” Keeps Pouring Out Over Osaka Castle Elevator

Perhaps the Prime Minister could have provided some of that astute judgment to the folks in Nagoya.

The city of Nagoya also faces an “elevator/no-elevator” decision as it commences the restoration of wooden towers at Nagoya Castle (名古屋城). To be fair, decisions surrounding Nagoya Castle should be made with extreme care. Originally constructed in 1609 during the long reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the castle is listed among the 100 famous castles of the country, and is a national landmark.

Night view of Nagoya Castle. (Picture: T-Urasima / PIXTA(ピクスタ))

But it’s also 2019, and Japan is slowly evolving its work life and its social attitudes to create a more open and accepting society for all of its citizens. Part of that effort is creating “barrier-free” cities and public spaces.

So surely an elevator was included in the Nagoya renovation plans?

Alas, it was not.

So how did city planners behind the project assume disabled people could ascend the castle? That’s easy: they’d just use “a drone or similar technology.”

(JP) Link: Nagoya Castle Elevator Plans “Unjust”; Demand to Governor to Intervene

If that leaves you scratching your head, you’re not alone.

You may be wondering, as I was, whether what they’re proposing is even possible. It turns out that it is. Theoretically. And likely at great expense. Human-carrying drone technology is still in its infancy, with the first models only being tested last year by Chinese company Ehang. Until those first successful test flights, engineers had doubts the technology would even work. Even now, many wonder whether it can commercially scale, and become anything other than a luxury item — a sort of Segway of the drone set.

Naturally, Japan’s disabled community wasn’t happy about tried and true 20th-century tech being chucked for science fiction. A group of citizens launched the Executive Committee for the Installation of an Elevator At the Wood Tower of Nagoya Castle (名古屋城木造天守にエレベーター設置を実現する実行委員会), and gathered a list of signatures. This week, representative Kondou Yuuji (近藤佑次) submitted the signatures to Oomura Hideaki, governor of Aichi Prefecture, and asked him to intervene. For his part, the governor seemed more than happy to oblige:

ドローンで障害者を運ぶという発想は明確な差別。おぞましい。申立書の内容を精査し、適切に対処していきます。 The thought of using a drone to carry disabled people is outright discriminating. It’s disgusting. I’ll examine the contents of this petition clearly, and deal with it as appropriate.

Given the political pressure mounting, and the public black eye that Nagoya is receiving over this decision, I expect we’ll see this decision… reconsidered in due course. Perhaps, going forward, politicians — from city planners to the Prime Minister — will be more mindful of speaking glibly about a barrier-free society.

I’m the publisher of Unseen Japan. I hold an N1 Certification in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and am married to a wonderful woman from Tokyo.