Tokyo Paralympic Games I interviewed with hearing loss September 24, 20:51
In
2017, I became a reporter because I was deaf and hard of hearing, thinking,
"I want more people to know about the potential of people with
disabilities."
Over the next four years, I have been covering parasports.
One of the principles of the Tokyo Games is "diversity and harmony."
Unfortunately, due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the tournament was different from what was originally expected, but through the interviews, we were able to discover a number of "potentials" that will lead to the future.
How should we root that "potential" in society?
(NHK Paralympic Broadcasting Reporter Yuki Goto)
Dynamic Paralympians
From August 24th, when the Tokyo Paralympics started, to September 5th, when it ended, I interviewed at the National Stadium every day, mainly on track and field.
What I saw there was the high level of parasports competition.
The world record set at the Tokyo Games is over 150.
I think there are many people who were moved by the dynamic appearance of the players.
Of particular note was Markus Rehm (Germany), a prosthetic leg who won the long jump gold medal in three consecutive tournaments.
His world record is 8m62cm, which exceeds the Tokyo Olympics championship record of 8m41cm.
Markus Rehm
"I have a prosthesis, but that doesn't mean I'm weak or inferior to others. We, the para-athletes, tell the world that we can do this even if we have a disability. Can show "
Technology "potential"
At the tournament, various devices were prepared with the aim of deepening mutual understanding by having people with disabilities and healthy people gather at the same stadium and share time.
What I found there was "the potential of technology."
During the Games, remote-controlled robots introduced for the purpose of guiding wheelchair users were in operation at the National Stadium.
Talk to passers-by, hand out plastic bottles, take pictures.
Although it was held without spectators, it provided services to athletes and overseas media.
In fact, this robot was remotely controlled by a wheelchair user from a location more than 200 kilometers away from the stadium.
Reimi Murase (Wheelchair user)
"Since I have been living in a wheelchair for a long time, the hospitality business has not been included in the selection of occupations. With this robot, I will do the customer service business that I always wanted to do. The dream came true. "
Mr. Murase and his colleagues The idea of wheelchair users was the idea of a "garbage collection robot."
In the crowd, I hesitate to throw away the trash in a wheelchair, so the idea was adopted that I would be happy if the trash can came to collect it.
I felt that it was convenient not only for people in wheelchairs, but also for people with a lot of luggage and people with children.
I personally feel that technology eliminates obstacles.
I have the most severe hearing loss and can hardly hear the sound, but after surgery and wearing a machine called a "cochlear implant", I became able to "listen to the sound".
I still vividly remember when I first put on my cochlear implant, I felt vividly, "The world was so full of sound!"
This is also thanks to technology.
"Potential" nurtured by volunteers
I also felt a great deal of "potential" in the appearance of the volunteers who supported the tournament.
People with disabilities also participated, and by working with healthy people, the consciousness of those around them changed.
This is Shigeru Kudo (56) who participated as a tournament volunteer.
I had amblyopia from the time I was born, and after I was 20 years old, my symptoms worsened and I became totally blind.
Mr. Kudo was in charge of disinfecting the seats in the stadium.
At first, with the help of my fellow volunteers, I grasped the work contents and the positions and intervals of the seats.
After that, I worked like a healthy person.
The fellow volunteers are said to have been surprised at how Mr. Kudo worked.
Volunteer companion
"At first I thought I had to support, but when I was watching the situation, I was often doing it myself, and I had no desire to support the tournament, only with or without disabilities. does not change"
Tournament Volunteer Shigeru Kudo
"In this way, people with disabilities and people without disabilities can work together to create a better society as a team. "
People with disabilities can play a role in society with "a little support".
That awareness overlapped with what I felt strongly about myself, who has a job of communicating in the presence of hearing loss.
The job of a reporter is to listen to the interviewees and convey them in words, all of which consists of "communication."
Ask them to create an environment that is easy to hear during the interview.
If you can't hear it, ask the staff around you to tell you.
With a lot of support, I am able to communicate in this way.
To spread "a little support"
"A little support" for people with disabilities.
Efforts are being made not only during the competition but also to spread it to society.
I visited a class to learn how to interact with people in different positions, such as people with disabilities and the elderly, and how to communicate and support them.
It started in 2013 when the tournament was decided to be held.
The instructor will be a person with a disability.
Participants will learn the positions of both the supporter and the supporter through the experience of visually impaired people using a white cane and the experience of riding a wheelchair.
The number of participants is increasing year by year, and so far more than 120,000 people from teens to 90s have taken the course.
Participant
"I saw the activities of the para athletes and thought that I could support them, so I participated."
Participant
"I had a desire to do something by seeing elderly people and people with disabilities on the train or in the city, but I thought that it would be a nuisance, so I ended up doing nothing in many cases. I think it's completely different just to know. "
The organizers of the workshop emphasize that they are at an important crossroads where the awareness and lessons learned from the Paralympics can be rooted in society.
Toshiya Kakiuchi, Representative Director (Japan Universal Manners Association)
"It is not the specific knowledge that a specific person should acquire, but the knowledge and skills that everyone should acquire as a matter of course. The Paralympics are over and the awareness is a little. I think it would be good if each and every one of us could think about what we could do again because the situation would have faded. "
"Potential" in the future
How should we connect the new "potential" that sprouted at the Tokyo Paralympics to the future?
At the end of the interview, there was a person who wanted to hear the story.
Maria Amalia of Naples, a prosthetic leg who won the silver medal in the long jump as a representative of France in this tournament.
She is also the chairman of the French Paralympic Committee for the Paris Games three years later, and has been looking at the Tokyo Games from the preparatory stage.
It is said that about 15% of the world's population, 1.2 billion people, have some kind of disability, but Lefur recognizes that people with disabilities are not "special" but "normal" people. It is said that what you do is the most important thing.
Maria Amalia of Naples (Chairman of the French Paralympic Committee)
"Athletes do not exist only during the summer and winter Paralympics once every four years, but there is a message I want to convey continuously. The more it is communicated, the more new role models are born and the people's image of people with disabilities changes. It is important to convey a positive image of people with disabilities. Seeing people with disabilities playing sports Instead of the sympathetic view that "that person seems to be tough", the line of sight changes to praise, "It's a great performance!" And "I can do this kind of movement!"
After 4 years of para-coverage
At the Tokyo Paralympics, we often hear that "barrier-free mind" is important as a legacy of the Games.
Regarding "barrier-free mind", the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare states that "all people with various mental and physical characteristics and ways of thinking communicate and support each other in order to deepen mutual understanding."
However, as a person with a disability, I feel that "no matter how much you think about it, it is not easy to do."
I think we must work on both soft and hard wheels, such as transportation, schools, companies, etc., so that people with disabilities can be "natural" in society, and the environment and systems are in place.
Why are there so few people with disabilities in school and work, and why are there only healthy people on TV?
I would like you to think about how people with disabilities in "society" can "be".
Disability marks and signs
There are many people in society who have "obstacles that cannot be seen by appearance."
I hope that you will practice "a little support" by knowing these marks and signs.
NHK Paralympic Broadcasting Reporter
Yuki Goto
Continued coverage of para-competitions and issues related to the realization of a symbiotic society Since I was
born, I have been hearing impaired and used a cochlear implant in my left ear
News Watch 9 director
Masayoshi Ajiki
2013. He joined
the belong to the land portion when the students
interviewed the chair ski in Pyeongchang Para
Video Center Photographer
Kaoru Okabe
Joined in 2007
We have continued to record the Tokyo 2020 Games by focusing on non-athletes such as people with disabilities and volunteers.
The video center cameraman
Yasui Tomoya
2011. joined
a wheelchair basketball boys won the silver medal shooting
felt the underlying strength and the infinite possibilities of para-athlete