Submitted by Heike Boeltzig-Brown, ICI / UMass Boston
In October, University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) staff Dr. Heike Boeltzig-Brown, who is based in Tokyo, and Miwa Tanabe organized “Inclusion Matters,” a U.S.–Japan Symposium that attracted more than 100 attendees.
Funded by the U.S. Embassy Tokyo and hosted at the Nippon Foundation’s headquarters in downtown Tokyo, attendees included leaders in disability and career services from top universities across Japan, business leaders, major media outlets and postsecondary students with disabilities (SWD).
Since the passing of disability anti-discrimination legislation in 2013, Japanese universities have made progress in improving accessibility and accommodations for SWD. In the US the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990) has been in place for almost three decades, but many opportunities and challenges remain in creating truly inclusive and equitable college campuses. Japan experiences similar struggles despite ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and amending the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities. Drawing on the lessons learned in implementing these laws, the event provided a forum for shared learning between both countries.
The symposium, a culmination of seven years of ICI’s Japan-focused disability programming, brought together SWD and the professionals who support them.
The event featured two panel discussions:
The first panel Disability Services Professional Perspectives was moderated by Jun Murata from Kyoto University and included Dr. Amanda Kraus from the University of Arizona, who currently serves as AHEAD-President-Elect, Dr. Wendy Harbour from AHEAD’s National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD), disability services provider Fuminori Oketani from the University of Toyama, and researcher Dr. Shinichiro Kumagaya from the University of Tokyo.
In the session, panelists explored concepts of self-advocacy and inclusion in higher education from a cross-cultural perspective. “In the US, an important part of self-advocacy is independence, because that's a value in our culture. But many students struggle with how they can receive services and still be independent. Or how services can help them become independent and not be a sign of weakness,” said Dr. Harbour, who visited Japan as a high school exchange student.
“In Japan, however, independence is valued less than community and there's a sense of honor for individuals and families that doesn't exist in the US. So what does self-advocacy mean in Japan? And does it even exist?” were some of the questions that Dr. Harbour posed to her peers. “…[I]f working together is a value in Japanese culture, then how can accommodations and supports help people with disabilities work together? And can getting an accommodation be seen as an honorable thing to do, because it makes people more productive citizens and better students?”
The second panel Student Disability Perspectives was moderated by Hiroya Banzono from the International Christian University and included Meguru Kobayashi from the Tokyo-based BeU Disability Student Support Group, Yui Yuda from Kyoto University, Mark Bookman from the University of Pennsylvania / University of Tokyo, and Kim Elmore from the NCCSD’s DREAM organization that is run by students.
A key takeaway from both panel discussions was that, despite talking about self-advocacy, panelists said that they preferred using terms like “activist,” “advocate,” “independent,” or other labels that are not only for people with disabilities.
Following the panels, the symposium showcased a documentary-style film “Beyond Access – Our Voices for Inclusion” that featured the stories of 11 Japanese SWD, which Boeltzig-Brown and Tanabe co-produced for the event. Speeches by representatives from the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), and the ICI / UMass Boston welcomed participants and stated their support of this kind of international collaboration around disability and higher education.
An 11-member symposium staff team, that included students with and without disabilities from Keio University, the University of Tsukuba, and Temple University’s Japan Campus, supported ICI staffers with the implementation of the event.
Reflecting on the symposium, Dr. Kraus said, “I was delighted to connect with Japanese colleagues and share strategies for meaningful inclusion in higher education. Although the ADA is well established, American colleges and universities share many similar experiences with respect to disability-related barriers with their Japanese counterparts. A barrier-free or universal design approach to our work is a shared priority and something that we can work together to achieve.”
Concluding the event, Dr. Boeltzig-Brown said the symposium was an important step toward increased sharing of information, ideas, and student perspectives between the US and Japan. Noting the strong representation of business leaders at the event, she highlighted the importance of and plans for engaging the U.S.-Japan business community in the conversation about SWD, higher education, work and career.
For more information about the event and ICI’s Japan programs, contact:
Dr. Heike Boeltzig-Brown, ICI / UMass Boston, heike.boeltzig@umb.edu