A U.N. committee is asking Japan to address problems with how the nation treats people with disabilities, such as the prolonged institutionalization of those with intellectual disorders.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conducted its first assessment of the status of policies for those with disabilities in Japan from late August in Geneva and issued its recommendations on Sept. 9.

In addition to a recommendation to revise laws that allow for the extended institutionalization of individuals with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, the committee also urged the government to do more to have an inclusive education for children who may have such disabilities.

While the recommendations are not legally binding, one expert said it showed the distance Japan still has to cover to bring about the society called for in the U.N. treaty.

Japan ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014 after it was adopted in 2006 and went into effect two years later.

“It will be important for the government to squarely face up to the contents and work to bridge the gap between our society and the society that the convention seeks to bring about,” said Jun Ishikawa, professor emeritus of disability studies at the University of Shizuoka, who served on the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities between 2017 and 2020.

One recommendation called the forced hospitalization of individuals with disabilities discriminatory and said all laws that allowed the government to violate their freedoms should be abolished.

It touched upon the forced sterilization program undertaken through the former Eugenic Protection Law and urged the government to apologize to all victims and to provide support without setting any deadline for applying for the support.

“The contents were right on target because it went into areas where issues still exist domestically, such as psychiatric care and inclusive education,” Ishikawa said.

TRYING TO FEEL INCLUDED

Government officials responded to questions from committee members about what was being done in Japan.

Some of the responses evoked disbelieving laughter from those observing the proceedings.

For example, one committee member asked what Japan was doing regarding Article 19 of the convention, which calls for allowing those with disabilities to live independently and be a member of local communities.

“Japan’s facilities are not surrounded by high walls or steel doors,” a welfare ministry official said. “Some residents enjoy cherry blossoms outside or within the facility as well as picnics. On the other hand, it is very important to move forward with efforts to have them move to somewhere in the local community.”

Yuhei Yamada, 37, of Tokyo, attended that session. He is a committee member for a national organization of those with psychiatric problems. He flew to Switzerland to observe the first assessment of Japan as an individual with a psychosocial disability.

“I felt the perspective was off track, like the official seemed to be saying even if someone is in a facility or hospital, everything would be all right as long as they can look at cherry blossoms,” Yamada said.

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 21. He spent about 18 months on four separate occasions in a psychiatric hospital.

At one hospital, he stayed in a locked room under staff supervision. There were others who could not leave the hospital due to family circumstances, and some women who were sexually assaulted.

Yamada said he felt there was something wrong with a system that did not allow for living in the community, instead forcing those with problems into a hospital.

“There are estimates that Japan has a high per capita ratio of hospital beds for those with psychiatric problems among advanced nations, and it has not reached the level sought in the treaty for living in the local community,” said Kazuyo Masuda, who heads Yadokari no Sato, a support organization for those with psychosocial disabilities.

A 2014 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Japan had about four times as many psychiatric hospital beds than the average of all member nations.

Katsunori Fujii, who heads the Japan Council on Disability, and Ryuhei Sano, a professor of social welfare at Hosei University, calculated the estimated ratios of psychiatric hospital beds per 1,000 residents among the 38 OECD nations and found Japan had the highest ratio, at about 37 percent.

EXCLUDED FROM REGULAR CLASSROOMS

Another observer at the U.N. Committee session was Hiromi Aoki and her 14-year-old daughter, Sara. They were interested in what government officials had to say about inclusive education.

Sara came down with higher brain dysfunction when she was 2, caused by exanthem subitum, a viral infection.

She was placed in a class for children with special needs during elementary school. Hiromi became concerned when other children whom Sara called out to said, “She has a disability.”

Hiromi felt unless something was done, her daughter would be cut off from other children, who, in part, would grow up without knowing about those with disabilities.

Work to change schools proved unsuccessful, and it was only in junior high school that Sara was able to be in a regular class.

A legal revision in 2013 allows children and their parents to state their preference before a decision is made on which school to attend, which also takes into consideration the extent of the disability.

There are still limits to the support Sara can receive. Now in her final year of junior high school, she has asked for help in understanding test questions by using larger fonts, but her request has not been granted because of the additional burden that would place on the teacher.

(This article was written by Miki Morimoto and Tomoe Ishikawa.)