Uoyama
Comic Creator

The reason for creating comics featuring individuals with low vision -Understanding people with amblyopia or low vision-

The comic I created, Yankee*-kun to Hakujo Girl (Yankee-kun and White Cane Girl), is a romantic comedy featuring a student who attends a blind school with low vision, a type of visual impairment.

While steadily continuing to create comics, I was fortunate to have a big opportunity to transform my comic story into a live-action drama, but to begin with, my motive for creating this comic was a very personal one. The motive was to have people understand my father’s difficulty with low vision.

My father’s low vision occurred mid-way through his life. Before I was born, my father had poor eyesight due to illness and now, his right eye is totally blind and his left eye’s visual field has been reduced to about 25%. Living with such a visually impaired father has made me realize how the world is made with the assumption that everything can easily be seen.

For example, the small and thin print found on documents and product packages is impossible for my father to see. It is also impossible for him to use the smooth touch panel screens which are utilized in self-service checkouts and automatic ticket vending machines because he can’t see well enough.

The term “visual impairment” has the strong connotation of a person being totally blind. In reality, most of society does not know that there are people like my father who have difficulties with seeing.

In recent years, the mechanization of services such as self-registration and the increase in unmanned train stations is progressing on the premise that there is no problem in seeing or handling the machines. Not only individuals with visual impairments, but also elderly people who are not accustomed to machines may be confused.

Therefore, I wanted to say to people "Wait a minute. There are people in the world who are visually impaired and who cannot adapt to mechanization." This is why I started creating comics where the main character has low vision.

Yankee* - Japanese yankee means naughty ones

A comic that features individuals with visual impairments as "human"

Amblyopia is a very familiar disability to me. but there are many people who are unfamiliar with it. I think that there are some people who, when they hear the words "visually impaired" feel it has nothing to do with them and some who just have no interest at all. If one looks at an individual that fits in the category of an "individual with a disability,” one may think that he/she is a person from another world, but after all, these are "human beings" who just have different personalities and lifestyles. I thought that expressing this disability in a comic would be a step toward bringing people closer to understanding Amblyopia.

Yukiko Akaza, an ordinary 16-year-old girl who attends a school for low-vision and blind students is the main character of "Yankee-kun to Hakujo Girl", She is a hard worker, but doesn't really have any special talents. She falls in love, she is fashionable, wants to study and try to get a part-time job, wants to go out and play around, has troubles, and sometimes wants to be lazy.

First, by creating a comic that depicts Yukiko Akaza as a “human” one (the reader) will grasp the feeling that Yukiko is like “the girl right next to you,” and not a “disabled person from another world.” By showing her living regularly in the same society as us (people without Amblyopia), I thought it would be a good way to get people to understand Amblyopia.

Morio Kurokawa, who is her romantic partner, is also a Yankee with a scar on his face, and although his circumstances are different from Yukiko’s, he is a person who also has difficulties in society.

Difficulty in living the “NORMAL LIFE” decided by society

It’s not only Yukiko (who has a disability), but Morio also has a different sort of difficulty in living. Morio has been exposed to prejudice because of his scar and upbringing as well as having the feeling that society does not accept him. He is not the only one who saves or protects Yukiko. The two are helping each other and expanding their world.

Not only Yukiko but I also made Morio a person who has difficulty living because I feel that the difficulty of living that this society brings to "individuals with disabilities” is not irrelevant to anyone.

In this comic, besides Yukiko and Morio, there are others who are feeling various difficulties in living. Some people in this comic are bullied, homosexuals, withdrawn, and some are guilty of committing crimes because of being trampled by society.

Like Yukiko with low vision, these people have their own kind of “NORMAL,” but they are suffering because they stand out from the "NORMAL" that has been decided by society. These people may be in the minority socially, but I think that many people have, more or less, felt the difficulty of living because they cannot conform to society’s version of "NORMAL." These are the things I am trying to depict in my comics.

In the comic, Morio says, "Only special people who don’t cause trouble in society are considered to be "NORMAL" in today's society." Anyone can get sick, get injured, lose a job, or fall out of what society has determined to be “NORMAL.”

A society where minorities find it easy to live is a society where everyone can live easily

In a society that progresses while neglecting socially vulnerable people and minorities, I think that the definition of "NORMAL" will be steadily narrowed down, and eventually, many people will be missed and left behind. Therefore, I think that aiming for a society where minorities can live comfortably will be a society where everyone can live comfortably.

Even in this comic, the store where Yukiko started to work was changed to meet her low vision demands, and as a result, is now a workplace that is comfortable for all the workers.

It is not that the people who cannot adapt to society are wrong, but I think it is important to take the stance of doubting a society where it is thought that the status quo is correct.

If there are people who find it difficult to live in the present world, from the appearance of Yukiko and the other people who appear in the comic, I would like you to know that it’s not wrong even if you cannot adapt yourself to the fixed framework of society because the world is wider and more diverse than you know.

Knowing each person's "NORMAL" is a step toward a diverse society

It is not being able to see or unable to see, but it is having difficulty in seeing as in Amblyopia. In other words, we can’t draw a line simply as what is decided as “NORMAL.” This may be difficult for others to understand because it is a difficult concept, but one can imagine it. There are various individuals in the world, and there are various circumstances surrounding those individuals. I think that just knowing that will change the way people see the world.

Just as Yukiko and Morio in Yankee-kun to Hakujo Girl got to know each other's world through numerous conversations, one can also find that there are various “NORMALS” for each person. One can also imagine a diversified society and I think it is the first step toward a society where everyone can live comfortably.