Language variations

Japanese Sign Language has influences from written Japanese language, with some gesticulation mimicking Japanese kanji, or written language characters.^[2] JSL, however, has its own grammar and syntax, independent from written Japanese language.^[2] This is in contrast to Signed Japanese (SJ) which follows the sentence structure of the written language.^[2] JSL belongs to a family of nationally used Japanese sign languages along with Taiwanese and South Korean sign language.^[4]

Miyakubo Sign Language (Miyakubo SL) is a shared sign language used on the Ehime-Oshima Island on the southwest coast of Japan.^[1] In the town of Miyakubo, a shared-sign community of 3 families use Miyakubo SL.^[1] Among the three families, 29 people are deaf and 22 are hearing.^[1] Although much of the history of Miyakubo SL predating the early 2000s is unknown, it has been present for at least 3 generations.^[5][1]

On the island of Amami Oshima, there is a shared signing community using what is referred to as Amami Oshima Sign Language.^[5] A 1999 study of 13 deaf and 8 hearing members of this community revealed a pattern of 25 basic signs, demonstrating the home sign language.^[1][5]

History of Japanese Sign Language (JSL)

The recorded history of Japanese Sign language (JSL) is relatively young, with its modern form developing in 1878.^[4] In his 1862 expedition across Europe, scholar Fukuzawa Yukichi studied various deaf schools, analyzing their use of speech and sign language.^[4] In 1863, Yamao Yōzō analyzed the use of sign language among deaf shipbuilders in Europe.^[4]

Japanese Federation of the Deaf

The Japanese Federation of the Deaf (JFD) is a national, non-profit advocacy organization for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community in Japan, founded in 1948.^[6][7][4] The JFD is an "umbrella organization," that oversees 47 prefectural, or regional, organizations with a total of 27,000 members, all of whom are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing.^[8][4] The JFD joined the World Federation for the Deaf in 1959, and in the following years became more of an activist group, advocating for the education and use of JSL nationwide by gathering and signing petitions for the Japanese Sign Language Act, offering training and exams to certify JSL interpreters, and publishing JSL textbooks and dictionaries.^[6][7][8] The JFD operates under the Japanese Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, which allocates funds to commission JFD to carry out itaku projects that focus on the development, use and education of Japanese Sign Language (JSL).^[8][7][6] Their primary itaku projects are "Popularizing and Increasing the Use of Signing," where they advocate for the use of JSL in schools and offer JSL classes, and "Research on Standardizing Signing," where they develop new signs for words that have not yet been defined in JSL.^[7][8] The organization also gains funding through the Asian Deaf Friendship Aid Project, JFD's fundraising organization founded in 1996 that helps to fund educational resources for Deaf children nationally and in surrounding countries.^[6]

Timeline

This section is in list format but may read better as prose. (October 2022)

• 1969: JFD publishes their first JSL textbook, "Watashitachi no Shuwa"
• 1976: Offer certification exams to JSL interpreters beginning
• 1997: JFD begins publishing a quarterly magazine discussing their activist goals entitled, "The Deaf Movement"
• 1979: JFD "commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to establish a sign interpreter instructors' training program"
• 1986: JFD petitions for the allowance of sign language interpretation in political campaigns
• 1997: JFD publishes their first JSL dictionary
• 2004: Joins the Japanese Disability Forum
• 2013: Headquarters for the promotion of JSL in Legislation
• July 2021: Telephone Relay Service implemented as a service for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing persons to use a phone or texts with the assistance of a SL interpreter in emergencies

Source:^[6]

D-Pro

Formed in 1993, D-Pro is a Deaf activist organization in Japan whose ideology is supported by the "bicultural model of Deaf society."^[7] Under the bicultural or bilingual model of deafness, there is a distinction between a Deaf persons' use of native sign language as a first language, and their use of written language as a second.^[9] This also creates a dual cultural identity when balancing between the two language and other elements of Deaf and Hearing culture.^[9] Under this ideology, D-Pro focuses on the standardization of and advocacy for spatial JSL, the language in its "pure" form, separate from written or spoken Japanese.^[7] This is distinct from the Japanese Federation of the deaf's approach to teaching sequential JSL, which uses different signs, often mimics spoken Japanese, and is used with word-mouthing.^[4][7] D-Pro offers JSL interpreter classes working alongside the National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled (NRCD), however as a newer organization, they have less influence on the standardization of their signs than the JFD.^[7]

Shuwa News on NHK

Japan's national broadcast news network, NHK, established two Deaf broadcast segments in 1983 entitled Everyone's Sign and The Sign News.^[7] These segments featured reporters signing in JSL to provide accessible content for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing audiences and help standardize the language nationally.^[1][4][7] The show would feature JSL interpreters using signs developed by the Japanese Federation of the Deaf until 1995 when native signer Nasu Hideaki became an anchor.^[7] Nasu joined the network in attempt to deter the confusion previously made with interpreters developing their own signs for words in reports that had not yet been defined by the JFD.^[4][7]

Nippon Foundation

The Nippon Foundation was founded by Ryoichi Sasakawa in Japan in 1962 as an organization that promotes "social innovation" and equal opportunity for people in educational, political, social, and professional settings.^[10][11] The Nippon foundation is a non-profit, nongovernmental organization whose programs provide resources such as funding, basic needs, and agricultural technology for low-income families, people with disabilities, and those experiencing hardships due to natural disasters.^[11] They also help to fund over a dozen scholarships and grants through other associated organizations, many of which are for Deaf men and women seeking higher education.^{[citation needed]}

Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International)

The Postsecondary Education Network international (PEN-International) is a non-profit organization that was formed by Japan's Nippon Foundation, in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in 2001.^[4][10] This organization focuses on Deaf people's accessibility to higher education in the United States and internationally in developing countries.^[4][10] Their initial mission was providing grants and scholarships to students from developing countries attending school in the United States to gain a higher education and bring it back to their home country.^[10] However, due to a lack of students returning to their home country, their mission shifted to providing the same resources to Deaf students in developing countries or with low resources, attempting to expand opportunities for deaf students in the workforce, increase accessibility of Deaf education and the use of informational technology in Deaf educational settings.^[10]

CRPD initial report of Japan

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified by Japan in 2014.^[12] The initial report of accessibility in Japan was released in June 2016.^[13] This report contains specific mentions of accessibility goals or necessities for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, including existing Acts in place that are meant to protect their rights and enable access in fields of health care, education, judicial matters, and recreation.^[13] These matters are assessed through the 28 members of Japan's Policy Commissions, most of whom have some form of disability, including deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, although that number is not specified.^[13]

Concluding observations report and List of Issues report

Following the 2016 release of Japan's Initial Report, the CRPD published a List of Issues in October 2019^[14] and Concluding Observations Reports, the most recent of which was released October 7, 2022.^[15] The List of Issues is published to address any misinformation or lack of information provided in the Initial Report that is necessary to addressing accessibility for persons with disabilities.^[14] The Concluding Observations Report is published in reply to each Article in the Initial Report, summarizing its information and making further recommendations of policies or Acts that will continue to increase accessibility.^[15] The List of Issues for Japan's Initial Report only contains one mention of "deaf and deafblind" students, requesting more information be provided about what legislative action and financial resources will be provided to transition students with disabilities into a more inclusive educational environment.^[14] The Concluding Observations Report includes several mentions of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, offering recommendations for increasing accessibility in telecommunications, judicial settings, healthcare, education, sports and recreation.^[15] However, it does not specifically mention the methods or resources under which these recommendations can be carried out.^[15]

Teaching methods

As of 2000, teaching methods in Deaf Public schools use a "total communication" approach where educators use a mix of cued speech, finger spelling, and signed Japanese.^[20][19] The only public school in Japan that has a program using JSL is the Sapporo School for the Deaf. Sapporo offers instruction to preschool and elementary level students.^[19] The program began in 2007 with only 2 instructors implementing JSL curriculum while others use an oral approach to teaching.^[20] While the 2 JSL instructors are fluent, none of the instructors at Sapporo are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. This separation of teaching methods has created controversy within the school due to a divide and inconsistency of language between students in each program.^[20] In 2008, Meisei Gakuen, a private school for Deaf students in Tokyo, opened as the only school with JSL as its primary form of instruction.^[20][19] This is the only private school available to Deaf students in Japan with a 3:12 student-to-teacher ratio, and 2 D/HH instructors.^[22][20] Meisei Gakuen offers instruction for students from preschool through high school levels. The school has a "bilingual approach" to teaching, using JSL and written Japanese. The school emphasizes the importance of learning JSL as a natural first language for Deaf children under the belief that JSL is best suited for Deaf children's life outside of school as a comfortable and fully accessible language they can use.^[22]

University of Tsukuba

^[24] The University of Tsukuba has 2 primary campuses in the Tokyo area. As a university focused on basic and applied sciences, it offers resources for Deaf/HH students based on organizations and offices whose expertise is in disability research. The Institute of Disability Sciences within the University of Tsukuba is a collective of researches that primarily accommodate for those with physical disabilities. The Office for Students with Disabilities has Senmonbukai, a faculty-led organization, approved by the university's Health Center. These faculty are also researchers of hearing, visual and physical disabilities who provide tutors, work in resource rooms, and assessments of individual student accommodations. The university also has what they call a "Laboratory School" on campus: The Special Needs Education School for the Deaf. There is little information on the university's website regarding the enrollment, services and teaching methods at this school versus the main campus.^[25]

Types of jobs

White-collar jobs are historically inaccessible for D/HH people in Japan to obtain.^[16] Factories, trade jobs, beauticians and forms of self-employment such as seam-stressing or tailoring are more common. The Japanese Federation of the Deaf (JFD) specifically notes JSL interpreter jobs are also common, however, it is often under poor conditions.^[26] In a 2007 survey, only 20% of high school graduates were employed in "welfare-oriented" jobs, where staff members and instructors assist disabled employees.^[24] These positions are often paid below the minimum wage. Many are also employed in "window-seat" jobs, where disabled employees are given a job with little to no tasks.^[24]

Legislation and efforts

In 1960, Japan's government implemented the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act that established a quota system.^[17][24] As of 2009, for companies with 56 or more employees to have 1.8% of their staff be disabled persons.^[24] If companies do not comply with this quota, they are charged a levy. They are also given a grant if they comply with the quota and provide an accessible work environment, which is not otherwise required.^[24] In 1989 the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare began offering certification exams for JSL interpreters, following after the JFD.^[17] While certifications are now more commonly required to become an interpreter, the certification does not guarantee employment.^[17][26]