Regular Session No. 3 of Reiwa 7 – General Questions Let’s All Get Excited About the Deaflympics!

The 2025 Tokyo Deaflympics will be held🕊️💫

During this general question session, I had planned to ask about fostering momentum for the Deaflympics, but my question overlapped with another council member’s, so I proceeded by linking it to the “Act on the Promotion of Sign Language-Related Policies.”

I won’t go into the legal details, but the feedback we received from citizens regarding the blue lights being on was truly heartbreaking.

As I’ve stated repeatedly, since I initiated this action, I will take responsibility and work to improve the situation.

Not only for Deaf Awareness Day, but throughout the year, there are events that feature light-ups (such as International Smoking Day and Pink Ribbon Day). Therefore, I proposed using locations like the monument in Central Park for the light-ups.

Furthermore, by implementing sign language education from early childhood (though it will take a very long time), I believe an era will eventually arrive where deaf schools are no longer necessary.

However, this cannot be achieved immediately.

Therefore, I sought the opinion of the newly appointed Superintendent regarding the need to promote the integration of sign language based on the school education currently provided in Hino City schools.

While the response acknowledged that exposure to various disabilities is necessary within current school education, one point that concerned me was a statement that could be interpreted as, “Even if we held a one-off sign language class, they probably wouldn’t remember it or be able to use it.”

It must be clarified that this is merely how I interpreted it; he did not actually say these exact words.

However, since sign language is recognized as a language, if students learn at least greetings and “thank you,” they can muster the courage to use even that basic sign when encountering a deaf person in need on the street. This enables communication and allows them to assist.

Beyond that, there are many ways to communicate, whether through gestures or writing.

The essential thing is to first exchange greetings, establish mutual reassurance, and demonstrate the will to communicate.

I requested that, for children about to enter society, at the very least, education in demonstrating the will to communicate be implemented reliably.