Tomonori Ito
Department Head of International Affair
Japanese Physical Therapy Association

The Japanese Physical Therapy Association (JPTA) was set up in 1966, and is made up of over 130,000 physical therapist members. It is a public interest incorporated association with the goal of contributing to furthering medical care, public health, and welfare for the nation’s citizens. At the same time as working to advance health and welfare and to prevent disability and disease, we also carry out projects to facilitate international cooperation and contribution.

When it comes to initiatives to make sure that no-one is left behind, we are working to promote inclusive education by physical therapists in school health services and special education classes; the acceptance of disabled children and adults by after-school daycares; and employment support at Hello Work job centres, such as Total Supporters for the Employment of People with Mental Illness and Total Supporters for the Employment of People with Developmental Disabilities. Securing the deployment of physical therapists to home-visit rehabilitation services, community preventive care for senior citizens, activities at salons, and so on could also be termed important initiatives for inclusion.

We have carried out our international projects so far in partnership, cooperation, and collaboration with various related organisations. To introduce a few, these include the Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative, which is based on health and medical care strategies; the ASEAN-Japan Smart Cities Network; World Physiotherapy; ACPT, the Asian Confederation for Physical Therapy; and our Association’s original initiatives in collaboration with the associations of physical therapists in various Asian countries. Most of these projects include activities on various levels with people with disabilities and their families, as well as personnel development for physical therapists and other health professionals with a connection to rehabilitation

2019 World Physiotherapy AGM (Geneva,Switzerland)

Public-Private Committee, ASEAN-Japan Smart Cities Network
Meeting with the Health Department, Makassar City, Indonesia

Through the training and awareness-raising programmes of JANNET, the Japan NGO Network on Disabilities, we carried out various activities to interest people in Braille and sign language at the Global Festa. In JANIC, the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation, we participated in training and study sessions. In Our SDGs, we took part in webinar planning support. In addition, we have also had many valuable experiences in the past, such as providing operational support for the 3rd Asia-Pacific Community-Based Rehabilitation Congress, held in Tokyo in 2015, and participating in the 4th Congress in Ulaanbaatar. Through our involvement with initiatives aiming to enable people with disabilities and those without to live healthy, inclusive lives in society, we had the great privilege of connecting with many people. Collaboration with people in a wide range of different fields, including the business and healthcare worlds, with Our SDGs since 2020, and participation in the Japanese Federation of the Deaf’s congress in 2022, have made us keenly aware of the necessity of working in partnership.

In an increasingly globalized world, we will continue to plan and implement international projects at home and abroad, working in partnership and collaborating as one member of a coalition to support and promote an inclusive society.

3rd Asian Physical Therapy Forum, held online