Disability in Japan

208 Pages·2013·5.272 MB·English

by  Carolyn S. Stevens

Disability in Japan
Disability and chronic illness represents a special kind of cultural diversity, the
‘other’ to ‘normal’ able-bodiedness. Most studies of disability consider disability in
North American or European contexts; and studies of diversity in Japan consider
ethnic and cultural diversity, but not the differences arising from disability. This
book therefore breaks new ground, both for scholars of disability studies and for
Japanese studies scholars. It charts the history and nature of disability in Japan,
discusses policy and law relating to disability, examines caregiving and accessibil-
ity, and explores how disability is viewed in Japan. Throughout, the book high-
lights the tension between individual responsibility and state intervention, the
issues concerning how care for disability is paid for, and the special problem of how
Japan is providing care for its large and increasing population of elderly people.
Carolyn S. Stevens is Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the Japanese
Studies Centre at Monash University, Australia.
Japan Anthropology Workshop Series
Series editor:
Joy Hendry, Oxford Brookes University
Editorial Board:
Pamela Asquith, University of Alberta
Eyal Ben Ari, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hirochika Nakamaki, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Kirsten Refsing, University of Copenhagen
Wendy Smith, Monash University
Founder Member of the Editorial Board:
Jan van Bremen, University of Leiden
A Japanese View of Nature Nature, Ritual and Society in
The World of Living Things by Kinji Japan’s Ryukyu Islands
Imanishi Arne Røkkum
Translated by Pamela J. Asquith,
Heita Kawakatsu, Shusuke Yagi and Psychotherapy and Religion in
Hiroyuki Takasaki Japan
Edited and introduced by The Japanese introspection
Pamela J. Asquith practice of naikan
Chikako Ozawa-de Silva
Japan’s Changing Generations
Are young people creating a new
Dismantling the East–West
society?
Dichotomy
Edited by Gordon Mathews and Bruce
White Essays in honour of Jan van Bremen
Edited by Joy Hendry and
The Care of the Elderly in Japan Heung Wah Wong
Yongmei Wu
Pilgrimages and Spiritual Quests in
Community Volunteers in Japan Japan
Everyday stories of social change Edited by Maria Rodriguez del Alisal,
Lynne Y. Nakano Peter Ackermann and Dolores Martinez
The Culture of Copying in Home and Family in Japan
Japan Continuity and transformation
Critical and historical perspectives Edited by Richard Ronald and
Edited by Rupert Cox Allison Alexy
Primary School in Japan Abandoned Japanese in Postwar
Self, individuality and learning in Manchuria
elementary education The lives of war orphans and
Peter Cave wives in two countries
Yeeshan Chan
Globalisation and Japanese
Tradition, Democracy and the
Organisational Culture
Townscape of Kyoto
An ethnography of a Japanese
Claiming a right to the past
corporation in France
Christoph Brumann
Mitchell W. Sedgwick
Religion and Politics in
Japanese Tourism and Travel
Contemporary Japan
Culture
Soka Gakkai youth and Komeito
Edited by Sylvie Guichard-Anguis
Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen
and Okpyo Moon
Language, Education and
Making Japanese Heritage
Citizenship in Japan
Edited by Christoph Brumann
Genaro Castro-Vázquez
and Robert A. Cox
Death and Dying in
Japanese Women, Class and the Contemporary Japan
Tea Ceremony Hikaru Suzuki
The voices of tea practitioners in
northern Japan Disability in Japan
Kaeko Chiba Carolyn S. Stevens

Disability in Japan
Carolyn S. Stevens
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Carolyn S. Stevens
The right of Carolyn S. Stevens to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Stevens, Carolyn S., 1963-
Disability in Japan/Carolyn S. Stevens.
p. cm. – (Japan anthropology workshop series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. People with disabilities–Japan. 2. People with disabilities–Services
for–Japan. 3. People with disabilities–Government policy–Japan.
I. Title.
HV1559.J3S74 2013
362.40952–dc23 2012035803
ISBN: 978-0-415-51701-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-37459-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Sunrise Setting Ltd, Paignton, UK
For Tomo, Sora and Zenry

Contents
List of figures xi
List of tables xii
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Note on transliterations and translations xvi
1 Introduction: thinking about anthropology,
disability and Japan 1
Disability definitions 3
Disability studies in English 6
Disability studies in Japan 14
Book outline 17
Concessions 19
2 Disability in the Japanese context 23
Ideologies of disability in Japan, past and present 23
The contemporary demographics of disability in Japan 28
Disability activism in Japan 33
Conclusion 42
3 Disability, language and meaning 44
Disability discourse in Japan 47
Examples of discriminatory language in the public sphere 52
Kotobagari and freedom of expression 56
Conclusion 58
4 Disability policy and law in modern Japan 61
Welfare policy for people with disabilities in the
twentieth century 65
The Japanese legal structure 67