When I first came to Eugene as a participant on the Mobility Internaitonal USA (MIUSA) US/Japan exchange, I was really surprised by the accessibility of the city.  All of the public buses were completely wheelchair accessible. 

 The signs and timetables posted at each section at the main bus terminal were also in Braille.  The city’s sidewalks were wide and smooth with curb cuts at each corner.  As a young woman from the countryside of Japan, I hadn’t considered that this could be possible!

I am from Iwate Prefecture (a prefecture is similar to a state in the United States) in the northern part of Japan.  Iwate is the second largest prefecture in Japan.  In my hometown, Miyako, which is located on the coast, people with disabilities often do not leave their homes due to problems of accessibility.  The roads and sidewalks are really narrow and bumpy.  There are no buses with ramps or lifts.  Because my hometown is so rural, the culture and the ideas there are much different from the way of thinking in Japan’s big cities.  Unfortunately, rural attitudes about disability are negative rather than positive.  People do not have good images at all about people with disabilities.  Disabled people themselves have adopted these same attitudes toward themselves – sadly, many disabled Japanese people consider themselves to be inferior to non-disabled people.  Some families are ashamed to have a person with a disability as their family member.
 
As a person with a disability, I also could not think positively about my disability.  I sometimes hesitated to try to do the same things as non-disabled people did.  I lacked self-confidence.  I never thought I could do anything at the same level or to the same standard as non-disabled people.  Traditionally, disabled children have been educated separately in special schools.  Because of this separation, people with and without disabilities have almost no chance to get to know each other.  As a result, many people have stereotypes about people with disabilities – belief in these stereotypes often leads to discrimination.
 
When I joined the MIUSA exchange program, I learned about advocacy for people with disabilities.  That shift in thinking about others with disabilities changed my thinking about myself.  I began to develop confidence and to believe that I could have a positive impact for disabled people in Japan. 

Later, I applied for an internship at MIUSA so that I could further develop my advocacy skills.  I also applied for a scholarship through a Japanese foundation that seeks to open study and intern abroad opportunities for Japanese people with disabilities.  I received the scholarship and arrived in Eugene for a year long experience working as an intern with MIUSA’s exchange department.  My job was to support the exchange coordinator so that our exchange programs run smoothly.  I had many projects and responsibilities at MIUSA.  I also had many opportunities to participate in and learn about disability services in my new community of Eugene.  Additionally, I studied English at the American English Institute housed at the University of  Oregon.  As my time progressed, I gleaned and adapted strategies to take back to Japan with me.  My goal is to help disabled people live independently in their communities throughout Japan – whether those communities are urban or rural.