Reconsideration of Concept of “Disability”: Creating a New Definition of “Reasonable Accommodation” Based on Tactile Culture

Keywords

actile culture ,universal museum ,visually -impaired people

Objectives

In April 2016, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was enacted. Discussions are underway on how “reasonable accommodation” for the disabled should be in various areas. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) of the United States was enacted in 1990, and it took more than 20 years for its philosophy to take root in society. In Japan, it is safe to say that extensive studies on “disabilities” are needed in order to build various systems in accordance with DDA down the road.
Meanwhile, with an eye toward the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, the necessity of universal tourism (tourism and creation of towns for everyone to enjoy) is being stressed in various fields. In the tourism industry, the number of tours for the disabled has risen. In order not to put an end to the growing interest in the disabled on the back of the Paralympics effect as a mere transient boom, we believe that it is essential to study the form of “reasonable accommodation” in recreation or leisure from a cultural anthropological perspective.
The purpose of this joint study is to take over the “anthropological research on tactile culture” conducted from fiscal 2012 through 2014 and review the concept of “disability” by making full use of theories, such as “universal museum” or “tactile studies”. We will look into concrete images of “reasonable accommodation” in public facilities (museums in particular) in hopes of disseminating it in the society.

Research Results

Over the course of this two-and-a-half-year inter-university research project, practical research on universal museums has progressed considerably. Interest in this project has grown in a variety of fields.
Inquiries from museum officials from across Japan have increased, and many people have expressed interest in attending the research project’s workshops as observers. The project’s previous results have been published in two books, Sawatte tanoshimu hakubutsukan [A Museum You Can Enjoy by Touching ] (2012) and Hito ga yasashi hakubutsukan [The People-friendly Museum] (2016), and the third book promises to become the definitive work for universal museum research in Japan. Unfortunately, we were not fully able to link the above-mentioned universal museum research with the main objective of this project—to reconsider the concept of “disability.” The goal stated in the research project’s implementation plan submitted in 2016 was to propose the following three things:
(1) Guidelines for formulating “reasonable accommodation” for people with disabilities who visit public facilities (especially museums)
(2) The importance of developing tourism and a community where one can “explore the unseen world with one’s body by touch,” enabling disabled people to participate on their own initiative
(3) The development of a new concept of “disability” (change the “disabled person = weak” schema)
In regard to (1), unfortunately, the principles of the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities that went into effect in 2016 have not taken root in Japanese society.
Disabled people’s organizations are growing more and more frustrated that the act is not functioning adequately. There are plans to reexamine the act in fiscal 2019. The initial plan for this research project was to conduct case studies on reasonable accommodation in museums and other public facilities, but that failed to yield sufficient results.
With (2), while we were able to gather examples of exhibitions and workshops in museums, we were unable to link that to tourism and community development.
Due to the impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the term “universal tourism” has become a buzzword. Initially, we planned to invite representatives of local governments and the travel industry involved in universal tourism, but could not find anyone suitable who could develop theories about and report on leading examples. By this we can infer that other people and organizations are not as aware of the issues as this research project is. In order to ensure the current trend of universal tourism stemming from the Olympic and Paralympic Games is not simply a temporary fad, we need to continue to actively disseminate information.
In regard to (3), we have presented some of the project’s research results in publications such as a feature article of Gekkan Minpaku [Minpaku Monthly] (April 2018) and Chi no suitch: “shogai” kara hajimaru riberaru atsu [The Knowledge Switch: Liberal Arts Starting from “Disability”] (2019) cowritten and coedited by Koujirou Hirose. Furthermore, preparations are currently underway to hold a public symposium to present the results of this research project. We hope to formulate a robust program to make sure we make up for the shortcomings in (1) and (2), and further develop (3).