Work and Proposals by Japanese Federation of the Deaf

Japanese Federation of the Deaf

1. What the Great East Japan Earthquake taught the Japanese Federation of the Deaf

On March 11, one of the largest earthquakes in the world occurred off the coast of Tohoku at 2:46 p.m. Following the earthquake, a tsunami hit, and there was a nuclear accident, causing an unprecedented disaster for Japan, which is known throughout the world as a disaster-prone country. It is the responsibility of those of us alive to rethink measures to respond to natural disaster (including disaster prevention measures) and nuclear power policy considering the fact that Japan is a country prone to disasters.

Many people lost their lives because they lacked equal access to information. Many people were forced to live isolated, painful lives since they were not guaranteed communication. Many people became withdrawn and lost the will to live because there was no mental health care. That fact that people die because of conditions such as not being guaranteed equal access to information and communication was not understood by many Japanese for a long time. Although the Great East Japan Earthquake made many people aware of the importance of guaranteed equal access to information and communication, many people lost their lives and livelihood. It is exactly because of this that we must quickly create laws that guarantee access to information and communication. This is to make sure that there are no deaths due to the next disaster, which is sure to occur.

2. Japanese Federation of the Deaf's initial efforts

Following its creation, the Central Headquarters for Disaster Relief for Deaf People in the Great East Japan Earthquake (Central Headquarters), composed of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf (the JFD), National Research Association for Sign Language Interpretation (Zen-tsu-ken), and Japanese Association of Sign Language Interpreters, held discussions regarding concrete and structured activities that could be undertaken for the time being, which were based on operation management and reports from responsible parties.

In addition, the Central Headquarters called on entities related to persons with hearing impairments throughout Japan to provide support in collaboration with the Central Headquarters. Ultimately, the following fifteen organizations joined: Japanese Organization of CS Broadcasting for People with Disability, National Center of Sign Language Education, Japanese Council of Homes for the Aged Deaf (a national council of welfare facilities for senior deaf citizens), Japan Association of the Deaf Teachers, National Federation of Hearing Impairments Facilities Conference (a national council of facilities for providing information to persons with hearing impairment), The Japan Deafblind Association, Japan Council for the Children of Blind, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Zenkoku Yoyakuhikki Mondai Kenkyukai (a national association of speech-to-text interpreters), Japanese Deaf-Helper Association, Zenkoku Rogakkocho Kai (a national association of principals of the school for the deaf), Council for National Deaf Multiple Disabilities Facility (a national council of facilities for deaf people with multiple disabilities), All Japan Association of Hard of Hearing and Late-Deafened People, The Network of Medical Personnel with an Interest in Deaf-healthcare, The Nippon Foundation, Japanese Association of Social Workers for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Since the main activities were relief activities in the disaster area, local relief headquarters, centered on member organizations that confirmed the safety of members immediately after the disaster, were established in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, which had sustained particularly extensive damage, and these local relief headquarters were tasked with providing support to various people, including persons with hearing impairments, in cooperation with the local and central governments.

3. What the JFD was able to accomplish through the Central Headquarters

Starting in April, local relief headquarters were established in each prefecture, and hearing-impairment related organizations throughout Japan united to provide peripheral support, including collecting donations and providing support to people who had fled prefectures hit by the disaster. In order to establish a fund necessary to conduct support activities, the full amount of the Disaster Relief Fund (more than 2.50 million yen) managed by the JFD and Zen-tsu-ken was contributed to the Central Headquarters, and after that, calls for donations were made throughout Japan so that money could be distributed to persons affected by the disaster. The Nippon Foundation also provided substantial aid, including providing the necessary funds for local relief headquarters to conduct operations, dispatching sign language interpreters from prefectures that neighbor the ones hit by the disaster, assigning full-time staff, and paying subsidies for gasoline used in cars for support activities.

Efforts were actively made to ensure equal access to information, which included receiving and disseminating information, a lifeline for persons with hearing impairments. A website for the Central Headquarters was established, and information on the disaster area and information important for providing support to persons with hearing impairments was posted on this website. Furthermore, an international version of the website was created to disseminate to the world information on the conditions persons with hearing impairments faced following the disaster. Emergency requests regarding ensuring that persons with hearing impairments had equal access to information on the earthquake were made to the mass media, particularly the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. The Foundation also requested that a sign language interpreter be assigned to press conferences held by Tokyo Electric Power Company so that persons with hearing impairments could obtain information on the nuclear accident. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japan Meteorological Agency were requested to include closed captioning and sign language to their announcements.

Discussions were held with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare regarding the official dispatch of sign language interpreters, speech-to-text interpreters, and counselors for the deaf from throughout Japan to areas hit by the disaster; during a talk with the chairman of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters' Association, a request was made that sign language and closed captioning be added to TV and that the sign language interpreter be moved closer to the speaker during press conferences at the Prime Minister's Official Residence; and many of these requests were implemented.

The following requests were made at hearings for disability organizations involved in the disaster response held by various political parties including the Democratic Party of Japan, Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, and New Komeito that the JFD took part in.

In the prefectures hit by the disaster, sign language interpreters were also affected by the disaster and it was impossible for them to provide sufficient sign language interpreting services. Therefore, sign language interpreters, counselors for the deaf, and speech-to-text interpreters from municipalities throughout Japan were registered and dispatched to Miyagi and Fukushima, which the Central Headquarters acted as coordinator for. In local areas, sign language interpreters were involved in various types of work including not only that related to daily life, such as disaster victim certificates, procedures related to numerous issues including insurance, certificates for persons with disabilities, licenses, and homes but also counseling related to employment and daily life. Officially dispatching sign language interpreters communicated to the government how important such interpreters are for the deaf during disasters. On the other hand, I felt that it is important to revise systems, such as those stipulated in the Disaster Relief Act, for various reasons, including the difficulty of being dispatched for long periods of time and the disaster areas being responsible for paying part of the costs of officially dispatched parties. Fukuoka was the only prefecture to dispatch counselors for the deaf. Many counselors for the deaf work in single-person offices and do not have guaranteed positions. Furthermore, much of the counseling is regarding pressing issues, making it impossible for counselors to leave their position; therefore, an important issue is developing a system of counselors for the deaf.

In addition, progress was made on creating both Initial Response/Safety Check For Persons with Hearing Impairment During an Emergency and Coordinating the Dispatch of Sign Language Interpreters Manual (entrusted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) in preparation of natural disasters that will occur throughout Japan. These manuals were posted on the JFD's website and can be freely downloaded.

4. Issues and problems that came to light

Following the Great Hanshin/Awaji Earthquake, the government was happy to release lists of names at the strong request of entities such as the JFD and local organizations for the deaf. With the Great East Japan Earthquake, however, prefectures and municipalities in the disaster area would not provide information on persons with disabilities necessary to confirm their safety because of Act on the Protection of Personal Information; therefore, relief headquarters for persons with hearing impairments in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima had no choice but to confirm the safety of people mainly through the personal connections of local organization members

Data on persons affected by the disaster obtained through support activities was mostly based on independent surveys conducted by local relief headquarters. Even the overall view of damage is still unknown as post-disaster conditions for all persons with hearing impairments is unknown. Even now, one and a half years after the disaster, many persons with hearing impairments and related parties, such as families, have still been left behind. There are various serious problems such as people having lost their jobs because the business they worked for failed due to the tsunami, etc., people having lost their income as they waited at home to return to work, self-employed people having no idea when they can reopen their business, and there being insufficient support for sign language interpreters and persons affected by the disaster who require mental health services.

The JFD has put an especially lot of energy into conducing fact-finding surveys of people affected by the disaster in the disaster area. Since it was difficult to ascertain actual conditions without the support of the prefectural government, JFD staff traveled numerous times to these prefectures to explain the importance of the fact-finding surveys. In Iwate and Fukushima, the local headquarters conducted a fact-finding survey in cooperation with the local government. In Miyagi, there is a movement toward entrusting the survey to the Miyagi-ken Support Center for Persons with Hearing Impairments. The future issue is tying the results of the fact-finding survey to support for daily life, employment support, and mental healthcare support.

5. Proposals for the future

Although relief activities conducted by volunteers reduce the burden on governments and reconfirm bonds between people, they are ineffective for long-term relief activities after a major disaster. There are differences in quality and volume of relief activities depending on whether social resources have been developed or not. For example, Iwate has the Facility for Providing welfare services for Persons with Hearing Impairments. However, Miyagi and Fukushima do not have the Facility. Whether there is a Facility for Providing welfare services for Persons with Hearing Impairments or not has a major impact on establishing support activity offices. Locations with sign language interpreters are able to provide support to persons with hearing impairments to a certain extent, but where no progress had been made in assigning sign language interpreters, it is difficult to confirm the safety of persons with hearing impairments affected by the disaster. There were major differences in efforts to protect the lives and livelihood of persons with hearing impairments depending on whether there is a Facility for Providing welfare services for Persons with Hearing Impairments, project for assignment of sign language interpreters, and a system of counselors for the deaf.

It is important to fundamentally revise the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and system to provide assistance during disasters, to create and expand systems related to persons with hearing impairment (e.g., information access, a communication law, and sign language law), and to develop social resources.