[르포]'All compartments are disabled toilets'... I went to Japan where the right to move was guaranteed

2023-05-04 19:10:00

[오사카=이데일리 조민정 기자] “I’ve never given much thought to the inconvenience of people with disabilities while living in Japan, probably because the infrastructure is so well established that it doesn’t become a social problem.”

On the 25th of last month, Osaka Airport, Japan. The public toilet I went to as soon as I got off the plane was a structure I had never seen before in Korea. There were only 6 or 7 spaces, but each space had a folding door wider than a regular toilet, and a safety bar installed next to the toilet and behind the door. Thanks to this, people with disabilities could conveniently use any car, and disabled and non-disabled people waited in line equally. It was a completely different look from Korea, where there are separate ‘handicapped-only’ toilets on the edge or outside of public toilets.

A sign guiding an uphill path for the disabled is installed at the entrance of ‘Todaiji’, one of the historical temples in Nara, western Japan. (Photo = Reporter Minjeong Cho)

Facilities for the disabled were located not only in the airport, which is a modern building, but also in an old cultural property built in 745. Signs guiding ramps for people with disabilities were erected at the entrance of ‘Todaiji’ (東大寺) in Nara City, which is the world’s largest wooden building and one of Japan’s most representative historical temples. The entrance was not very high at 5 steps, but when you turn the corner, a ramp was installed so that people with disabilities can easily enter the temple. Except for small bars in the neighborhood, it was not difficult to see disabled toilets in shops such as souvenir shops.

Japan introduced the ‘barrier-free law’ in 2000 and began to relieve the inconvenience of the transportation vulnerable before Korea. Barrier free is a movement that breaks down physical and institutional barriers to create a society where the elderly and disabled can live comfortably, and it is a term familiar to Japanese people. With the introduction of this law, the Japanese government has realized practical movements for the transportation vulnerable, such as introducing low-floor buses and installing elevators.

Japan’s ‘barrier-free’ is characterized by the fact that it does not stop at breaking down physical barriers. When people with disabilities in Japan want to use public transportation such as buses, subways, and trains, they must call an employee and use a folding ramp to get on board. At this time, neither the staff helping the disabled nor the passengers waiting for them complain at all, just waiting for the boarding to finish quietly. This is also why you can easily find blind people with white canes and physically handicapped people in wheelchairs on the streets of Japan.

An uphill road for the disabled is installed at the entrance of ‘Todaiji’, one of the historical temples in western Nara, Japan. (Photo = Reporter Minjeong Cho)

Koyama (27), a Japanese person, said, “The staff helping the disabled on public transportation never gets angry or bothered, and all the passengers wait patiently.” It is a characteristic of the Japanese that they do not rush even if it is possible.” He continued, “It cannot be said that facilities for the disabled are 100% everywhere, but looking back on my school days, even schools with outdated facilities always had ramps or elevators for the disabled.”

Kawaguchi (31), who was born and raised in Japan, was surprised to hear that in Korea, people with disabilities are protesting on the subway demanding guarantees of the right to move. He said, “Coming to think of it, almost all of Japan are low-floor buses.” A 30-year-old woman who said she had traveled to Japan said, “It’s hard to see disabled people in Korea because they avoid crowded times and rarely use public transportation.

Experts emphasized that Korea, like Japan, needs to be equipped with complex elements, such as the efforts of local governments and governments, and changes in citizens’ perceptions, as well as the physical installation of facilities. Park Ji-young, a professor at Sangji University’s Department of Social Welfare, said, “An environment in which it is easy for people with disabilities to go to convenience stores alone like non-disabled people should be created. Because there is no monitoring, people only think negatively about the protests on their way to work, so we need to think about why they are protesting.”