Disability access in Japan has improved greatly in recent times, whether that be making buildings more disability-friendly or providing opportunities for those with disabilities to engage with activities. However, there is still some way to go and many improvements to make in all parts of Japan to ensure that people with disabilities get the support needed to live fulfilling lives. Kumamoto is a prefecture that lacks the level of provision you\u2019d find in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. There are limited bespoke activities although accessible facilities are improving. Here is an overview of what you can find.<\/p>\n
Japan has passed a law known as the \u201cheartful building law<\/a>\u201d that encourages public facilities such as hospitals, shops, theaters and hotels to improve their disability access. Some grant funding is available for this, however the law stops short of making it a legal requirement for buildings to be fully accessible, for example wheelchair-friendly. This means that many venues continue to fall short of catering for disability needs. Some of the most disability-friendly places in Kumamoto include:<\/p>\n Since Japan hosted the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, there has been a spotlight on disability sports across Japan. Resources are still some way behind those in countries such as the US and the UK but more and more sports centers and gymnasiums now are equipped with fully disability-access, with some putting on tailored sessions such as wheelchair basketball, archery, table tennis or rugby. Although there are no established disability sports teams or clubs in Kumamoto, some of the prefectural facilities occasionally run classes. You can contact the Kumamoto Prefectural Sports Association<\/a> for up-to-date information. You can also use the Find My Parasport<\/a> tool to search for suitable activities in your area.<\/p>\n Parents of children with disabilities or special educational needs (SEN) can choose to enroll them in mainstream education or a SEN school designed for those with additional or complex needs. The two main SEN facilities in the Kumamoto prefecture are:<\/p>\n Although there is limited support in terms of social groups or networks at the local or prefectural level for those in Kumamoto with disabilities, you can access support and information from nationwide organizations including:<\/p>\n You can also check for up-to-date information on the Kumamoto Prefectural Website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Australian Paralympic Committee<\/a>, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Disability access in Japan has improved greatly in recent times, whether that be making buildings more disabil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,59],"tags":[604,605,489,606],"class_list":["post-6102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kumamoto-2","category-life-in-japan","tag-barrier-free","tag-disability","tag-kumamoto","tag-kumamoto-activities"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49642,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102\/revisions\/49642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Sports Facilities for People with Disabilities<\/h2>\n
Special Needs Schools in Kumamoto<\/h2>\n
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Support Groups and Organizations<\/h2>\n
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![Australian Paralympic Committee<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:090912_-_Ben_Newton_-_3b_-_2012_Summer_Paralympics.jpg\"){kind=link}