Photo/Illutration Yuina Suzuki commands the OriHime to raise its hand on Nov. 15 in Tokyo’s Kita Ward (Ryo Takeda)

“Did you enjoy the view today? The exit is this way,” the voice echoed through an elevator lobby on the observation deck in the Ikebukuro Sunshine building in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward.

It was the voice of Yuina Suzuki, who spoke to visitors there on a weekday in mid-November last year.

Suzuki, who is paralyzed on the left side of her body, attends the Tokyo metropolitan Kita special-needs education school as a high school third-grader.

She was greeting the visitors through a screen from her classroom at school, which is located 2.6 kilometers from the Sunshine building.

Suzuki's voice came through a table-top, remote-controlled robot called OriHime, which was developed by OryLab Inc., based in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward.

The robot is equipped with a camera and a microphone. Users can talk to people around OriHime through devices such as a tablet via the internet and make the robot nod in response to conversations by pressing a button.

When OriHime waved its hand while speaking, visitors laughed.

“I will graduate from school soon,” Suzuki said. “I could imagine what it is like to work in society thanks to this experience, which gave me confidence. This robot has expanded my world.” 

An increasing number of municipalities in Tokyo are using robots to help people with disabilities to work more easily.

Every municipal government is encouraging private companies to hire more people with disabilities, which helps prevent them from becoming isolated from society and also helps resolve labor shortages.

The Toshima Ward government has started utilizing the OriHime robot.

In September last year, the ward contracted with Sunshine City to explore new ways of working for people with disabilities. As a test, Suzuki served customers as a shop staff member and monitored young children at a play space during November.

According to the ward, the trial was well received by the company and visitors.

There are other local governments that hope the robot will serve similar roles.

In October 2024, the Tokyo metropolitan government started employing seven male and female staff members who have disabilities in their 30s to 50s to offer tourist information services.

These employees work by controlling the OriHime robots located at the observatory on the 45th floor of the metropolitan government building.

The seven members work 1 to 5 p.m. shifts on weekdays. The metropolitan government said it intended to create new opportunities for them to learn new ways of working at a place where many people gather.

It allocated a budget of about 92 million yen ($611,000).

Tokyo’s Nerima Ward also allocated 650,000 yen for leasing an OriHime robot in its initial fiscal 2025 budget.

The robot will be placed in a cafe located in the municipal government building to assist people with severe physical disabilities who utilize day care facilities in the ward.

However, some issues have emerged.

In some cases, support will be required to operate the OriHime, and employers will also need to identify tasks that can be done by the robot. In addition, leasing costs are a problem.

Each local government plans to find solutions to these issues through demonstration trials and other means.

“We want to make it a model case by having local governments take the lead in introducing the robots,” a Toshima Ward official said.

Related News