Country Report of Disabled Peoples' International-Japan, 1999

Preface

Since its foundation, the Japan National Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International (DPI-Japan), has taken a leadership position in the grassroots consumer movement in Japan. Furthermore, it has played an important role in the disability field at large in promoting human rights and independence of persons with disabilities. Indeed, politicians and administrators were successfully influenced to establish and/or amend some laws and measures from the point of view of persons with disabilities.

The Sixth World Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International will be held in Sapporo City, Japan in October 2002. DPI-Japan thinks that the assembly will be a good opportunity to mark the end of the Asia-Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities. DPI-Japan will contribute through participation in the process of policy making and proposals of need-oriented laws and measures from the point of view of persons with disabilities.

I. DPI-Japan's Proposal for Post-Decade Program

Six years have passed since the Asia-Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities started in 1993. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have founded the basis of disability measures through enactment of laws concerning disability during this Decade. However, the concrete changes do not go far enough to fulfill the needs of the persons with disabilities; indeed their human rights are still badly violated.

Therefore, following the achievements of the Asia-Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities 1993-2002, DPI-Japan proposes "The Asia-Pacific Decade for Accessibility 2003-2012."

DPI-Japan recommends the following measures:

1. In reference to securing accessibility, governments in the region should set targets by years and by areas towards 2012.
2. Governments in the region should encourage the organizations of persons with disabilities to participate in all processes from setting targets to implementation.
3. Governments should seek the widest representation of groups of persons with disabilities, with attention to gender and geography.
4. Governments in the region should enact specific laws in order to insure accessibility.
5. Governments in the region should raise the priorities of the accessibility measures in each economic policy.
6. Governments in the region should recognize accessibility for persons with visual, hearing, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, as well as for persons with physical disabilities.

2.1 Accessible Transportation

DPI-Japan's 12 year campaign for physical accessibility of public transportation has raised public awareness that accessible transportation is indispensable for mobility restricted persons such as persons with disabilities, older persons and pregnant women to participate in society. According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Transport in 1994, newly built/largely renovated railway stations with more than 5000 passengers per day should install elevators. Some railway companies began to install elevators or alternative machines in some existing stations.

The Ministry of Transport recently established a new committee to evaluate the accessibility of railway stations. DPI-Japan is trying to join this committee to make it work more effectively. In reference to public buses, so-called "no step buses" have gone into service in many cities recently. In addition, the order issued by the Ministry of Transport in 1978, which restricts wheelchair users from the use of public buses, were to have been abolished in December 1999. However, most of these changes above have occurred mainly in larger cities, while progress in rural areas is very slow. DPI-Japan is now asking central and local governments to restructure transportation systems as a whole in order to realize accessibility for all citizens. DPI-Japan thinks "no-step buses" and "no-step trams" are important elements for smaller cities and rural areas to improve transportation systems. Special transportation services (STS), in other words, door-to-door services are also important as complementary factors. DPI Japan requests the Ministry of Transport to give financial support when the taxi companies purchase accessible taxis.

For airplane travel, DPI-Japan has already started a skill training program in which DPI-Japan members teach Narita International Airport staff how to assist travelers with disabilities. There are still many inaccessible airport facilities; so DPI-Japan is trying to review the building guidelines and regulations issued by the Ministry of Transport. In addition, there are many discriminatory regulations issued by the Ministry and airline companies, which prevent travelers with disabilities from having comfortable journeys. DPI-Japan will continue its activities to make airplanes more accessible and comfortable. Most transportation companies usually recognize mainly wheelchair users when they renovate their facilities. They should also recognize all mobility-restricted persons including persons with visual disabilities, hearing disabilities, intellectual disabilities and psychiatric disabilities.

DPI-Japan is requesting politicians to enact a "Fundamental Law for Accessible Transportation" which should enforce government and transportation companies to set targeted figures. Recently the Ministry of Transport decided to introduce a bill
in next year's Diet session, which aims to improve accessibility in railway stations. The bill is still under consideration but DPI-Japan is afraid that it deals with only passengers with physical disabilities. DPI-Japan insists that such laws should recognize all mobility restricted persons and should deal with all transportation systems. (Editor's note÷the Law did pass÷see DisablityWorld issue June-July 2000)

2.2 Legislation on Accessibility at Local Levels

In 1992, Osaka Prefecture and Hyogo Prefecture established a so-called "Welfare City Planning Ordinance" which aims to promote physical accessibility. Since then, more than 80 percent of prefectures have established this kind of ordinance. In the next stage, these ordinances should be revised with more participation of persons with disabilities and municipalities should enact such kind of ordinances to make sure accessibility is at the community level.

DPI-Japan recommends that these ordinances:
 

1. include anti-discrimination clauses that define accessibility as a human right.
2. deal with facilities that relate closely to daily life such as supermarkets and restaurants.
3. deal with school facilities because they are used as shelters in case of disaster.
4. deal with housing issues.
5. recognize the importance of accessibility of information.
6. be implemented with the participation of persons with all kinds of disabilities including physical, visual, hearing, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.

2.3 Accessible Housing

"Promotion of Accessible Housing" is listed at the top of the Governmental Plan for Persons with Disabilities in 1995. Up to now, however, the actual situation in housing does not satisfy the demand of persons with disabilities.

The government amended the Public Housing Law so that local governments can set up "group homes" in housing developments. Group homes are where persons with intellectual disabilities live in a group of five with an assistant. However, the regulation of that Law has a discriminative clause which excludes "persons who need continuous care due to severe physical or mental disabilities" from living in public housing as a single person. The Ministry of Construction explains "those who need continuous care can hardly manage their daily life independently so that their residential problem can't be solved through living in public housing as a single person."

DPI-Japan recognizes that the Ministry denies the philosophy of independent living of persons with disabilities in communities. Some local governments have begun to accept persons with severe disabilities to live in public housing as singles. DPI-Japan has just started negotiation with some local governments to accept such persons through its member organizations.
 

III. Personal Assistant Services

The Care Insurance Scheme will start in April 2000. It includes all persons with disabilities aged over 65 and persons with some specific diseases aged 40-65. It is clear that this system does not satisfy the needs of those who need care in both quality and quantity. In October 1999, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a notification concerning the relationship of care insurance system and existing personal assistant services for persons with disabilities. According to that notification, those who have already receive personal assistant services for quadriplegic disabilities can continue to receive this service after April 2000, in addition
to care services provided by care insurance. It aims to maintain the quantity of the personal assistant services for those who need intensive care. However, less than 5 percent of prefectures/municipalities have this service, which amounts to at least 6 hours of care a day.
Most of the local governments have only basic personal assistant service with only 6-hour care a week that will be replaced to care insurance services. DPI-Japan is afraid that many persons with disabilities covered by the care insurance are enforced to go to institutions/hospitals if their families can not take care of them. DPI-Japan is trying to encourage central/local governments to spread personal assistant service for quadriplegic disabilities over all municipalities.
The notification also says that assistive devices, which will not be covered by care insurance, such as prosthetics, should be covered by existing welfare measures for persons with physical disabilities. Personal assistant services for persons with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities will start in April 2000. The Ministry explains that care insurance does not cover these services and that they will be additional services to existing social services for persons with disabilities.

IV. Income Maintenance

The National Pension Law will be amended in this Diet session in December. According to the bill introduced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the benefits of national pensions will not be raised in order to maintain the existing pension scheme. The Ministry has no intention to ameliorate inadequacies, which have been pointed out by DPI-Japan as follows.

1. The benefit of the National Disability Pension is so low that it can not maintain the income of persons with severe disabilities by itself. It amounts to only about 83,000 yen(about US$750) per month, while the livelihood grant for the poor with an additional portion for disability amounts to about 140,000 yen (about US$1270) per month.
2. Many persons with disabilities are still left without receiving the pension. There are mainly two reasons:

(a) Before 1982, foreign residents in Japan had no right to be national pension scheme members,
(b) Before 1991, the national pension scheme was not compulsory for students and housewives even if they were over 20 years old.
3. The National Disability Pension has an additional benefit for recipients who have children born before they qualified as recipients, while recipients who have children born after qualification do not receive any additional benefit. DPI Japan thinks that this is unreasonable and that the national pension scheme, in effect, denies parenthood to persons with disabilities.

5.1 Human Rights Abuses in Japan

Traditional welfare measures for persons with disabilities in Japan have been based on institutionalization. The government has promoted construction of large institutions and mental hospitals, most of which are obviously separated from society. Many social welfare and medical practitioners have benefited through managing these institutions and hospitals. Most of the human rights abuses against persons with disabilities occur in such institutions and hospitals and these abuses were seldom revealed until the 1990s. DPI-Japan thinks that the government should recognize how institutionalization has played an important role in
many cases of human rights abuses.

DPI-Japan established a DPI Advocacy Center in 1995 in Tokyo, which accepted about 400 clients in 1998. Such advocacy centers managed by persons with disabilities should be spread all over Japan. The DPI Advocacy Center is now engaged in research that aims to propose an effective advocacy system at the community level.

For politicians and administrators, DPI-Japan is trying to encourage them to amend the Fundamental Law for Persons with disabilities into an anti-discrimination law.

5.2 Law for Promoting Measures of Advocacy

5.3 Advocacy Service for Social Welfare Services at the Municipal Level

VI. Disqualifying Clauses

There are nearly 300 so-called "disqualifying clauses" in Japanese laws by DPI Japan's estimate. For example, persons with hearing disabilities cannot get medically related jobs (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.), while persons with psychiatric disabilities are prevented from obtaining various licenses. Persons with psychiatric disabilities are not supposed to enter Japan.
Public housing does not permit a single person with 24-hour care to live there. Driver's licenses are not given to many persons with disabilities- not because they cannot drive but only because they have disabilities. Through research, it is clear that there is no difference between hearing and non-hearing people in their ratios of causing car accidents. Those who have psychiatric disabilities can control themselves by using certain medicines. Rather than removing persons with disabilities in the first place, they should correctly and scientifically be measured for their abilities and provided reasonable accommodations. Right now, the Disability Policy Council is re-examining existing disqualifying clauses. Next year, various bills to amend these clauses will be submitted to the Diet sessions. These clauses mentioned above are against the philosophy of normalization and violate the human rights of persons with disabilities. Individual abilities should be looked at before disabilities, and it is society's responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities.

The original copy of this report, and reports from previous years, are available at http://member.nifty.ne.jp/shojin/DPI-Japan.html