日本新闻:东京残奥会：日本残障人士生活的现状与挑战

　　东京残奥会：日本残障人士生活的现状与挑战

　　TokyoParalympics: The lowdown on being disabled in Japan

　　东京是一个快节奏的大都市，高层建筑鳞次栉比，公共交通四通八达，令人羡慕。有人把东京称为未来型城市。在东京残奥会正如火如荼进行之际，我们通过对三位日本残障人士的采访，一窥日本残障人士的生活现状，了解他们面临的挑战。

　　Moon Rider

　　月亮骑士

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　　MizukiHsu, 35, calls herself a moon rider, a term she coined to represent adventurouswheelchair-users who like to travel and explore.

　　今年35岁的美月（音译，MizukiHsu）自称“月亮骑士”，她说这是因为她喜欢坐轮椅旅行、探索和冒险。

　　Whileshe says cities are busy and reasonably accessible she finds people in thecountry have more time to stop and help if she needs a hand.

　　美月说，城市总是很繁忙，但交通还算便利。如果她需要帮忙的话，人们总是愿意停下来帮她一把。

　　Japanhas focused on creating a “barrier-free” country for disabled peoplesince it was awarded the Games in 2013.

　　自从2013年获得奥运主办权以来，日本一直致力打造“无障碍”国家。

　　ButMizuki believes stigma is still a problem. “I feel it’s very common thatpeople gaze at me in public and some strangers tell me how pitiful I am.

　　美月认为，耻辱感仍是日本残障人士面临的问题。“我觉得人们在公共场合盯着我看仍然很常见，一些陌生人还对我说我很可怜，”美月说。

　　“Inclusionof people within the community still has a long way to go.”

　　美月表示，残障人士融入社会仍有很长一段路要走。

　　但乔西并不喜欢这种发明，他把它形容为“工程新玩意”。

　　“Ifind it quite terrifying because I’m always afraid that my wheelchair is goingto go flying off,” but when an accessible route is needed, this does thetrick, he admits.

　　乔西表示，他觉得很害怕，总是担心自己的轮椅会一不小心“飞出去”。但他也承认，当他需要无障碍通道时，它确实能提供便利。

　　Emigrating to Japan was a breeze

　　移民日本的加拿大人

　　For Josh Grisdale, 40, his outlook on disability in Japan is different having grown-up in Canada.

　　乔西（Josh Grisdale）今年40岁，从小在加拿大长大，他对日本残障人士的处境有自己的看法。

　　Josh first visited Japan in 2000 after being inspired by a teacher at his high school. After learning the language he moved there in 2007 and in 2016, at the age of 35, became a citizen, relinquishing his Canadian passport.

　　乔西在高中时受到一名老师的启发，于2000年首次到日本旅行。之后他开始学习日语，并于2007年移居日本。2016年，35岁的乔西放弃了加拿大护照，正式成为日本公民。

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　　When he applied for citizenship he was worried that being disabled might hamper him but says the positive reaction “blew me away”.

　　他在申请日本公民资格时曾担心自己的残疾有可能会妨碍入籍，但没想到人们的态度非常积极，让他深受感动。

　　“You hear all these horror stories of people trying to emigrate to the States or Canada and because they need to use the healthcare system they’ve been denied permission. I wasn’t once asked about my disability, which I think was just amazing.”

　　乔西说，你会听到一些想要移民美国和加拿大人的可怕经历，因为他们需要使用医疗系统而被拒绝了申请，“从来没有人问过我残疾的事，感觉非常棒。”

　　Josh, who runs the travel blog Accessible Japan, was able to use the welfare system as soon as he was registered. His needs were assessed within his ward of Edogawa and he was issued with a disability “passport” citing his requirements. He was allocated funding for carers, and equipment such as a wheelchair.

　　乔西在日本运营一个名为“无障碍日本”的旅行博客。他在日本入籍后立即就可以享受日本的福利体系。他所在的江户川区对他进行了评估，并根据他的需要为他颁发了残障人士“护照”。他可以获得使用护工的经济资助以及轮椅等设备。

　　On a side note, one way Japan raises money for disability services is a little like how the UK raises money for its “good causes” – through gambling. Japan doesn’t rely on six balls and a bonus ball, instead it uses the proceeds from the popular sport of boat racing.

　　另一方面，日本为残疾人服务筹集资金的一种方式有点像英国为其“公益事业”筹集资金的方式——通过博彩。英国主要是通过彩票，日本则是通过颇受欢迎的赛艇运动的收益。

　　High rise

　　高楼大厦

　　Mizuki grew up in Kyoto, west Japan. As a toddler she lost the use of her legs following a mysterious illness. “My mom told me that she thought she would need to always be with me and carry me place-to-place.”

　　美月在日本的京都长大，小时候由于罹患怪病让她的双腿丧失了功能。美月说，“妈妈告诉我她觉得她需要一直陪在我身边，并背着我到处走”。

　　That isn’t what happened but it did raise challenges.

　　虽然事实证明并不是这样，但是生活中还是要面对一些挑战。

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　　Tokyohas almost 14m residents, for comparison, London has 9m. Buildings are oftenbuilt upwards, not outwards, to accommodate the population. As a result,anything, including public services, could be spread across multiple storeys.

　　东京是一个拥有近1400万人口的大城市（伦敦人口为900万），为容纳庞大的人口，建筑物往往越盖越高。这就意味着，包括公共服务在内的许多部门都在高层建筑中。

　　In the 90s, Mizuki’s parents didn’t want her to go to a special school, instead, they got her into a local mainstream school, but they had to compromise on accessibility. Mizuki’s classes were often on different floors and the school didn’t have a lift.

　　90年代，美月的父母不愿意送她到特殊教育学校。他们把她送到当地一所普通学校，但他们不得不克服一些困难和做出一些让步，因为美月的许多课经常在不同楼层，而学校又没有电梯。

　　While it fitted handrails up the staircases, “I had to go up and down stairs by myself,” Mizuki says. This meant hauling herself up by the arms.

　　虽然楼梯上有扶手，但美月不得不自己上下楼，这意味着她要用手臂助力、一阶楼梯一阶楼梯慢慢移动。

　　Her parents also provided a wheelchair for every floor of the school so Mizuki could get around with her classmates, independently.

　　美月的父母为她学校的每一层楼安放了轮椅，这样美月就可以不需要辅助，坐着轮椅和同学们一起活动了。

　　Two decades on, Mizuki is a mother herself and the problem has come full-circle. It was almost impossible to find a nursery where she was able to go inside and drop off her children because of stairs, and ramps which were too steep.

　　20年过去了，美月自己也成了母亲。同样的问题又来了。美月几乎找不到一家她可以自己进去送孩子的幼儿园，要么是楼梯问题，要么是因为轮椅坡道太陡。

　　“It was a very difficult and challenging time, but fortunately I found one. They are very supportive, but it is the only one.”

　　美月说，那段时间非常艰难、挑战很大。幸运的是最后她终于找到了一家。幼儿园的工作人员非常支持她，但那是唯一的一家。

　　Job quotas and bonuses

　　工作配额和奖金

　　Across the world, disability employment tends to be low and many solutions have been tried. A simple quota system is a common solution, which is what Japan uses, but as the UK discovered decades ago, it causes new problems.

　　在世界各地，尽管人们尝试了各种办法，但残障人士的就业率仍然普遍较低。常见的办法就是使用简单的配额制度。这也是日本采纳的方法。

　　In Japan, if a company has more than 43.5 employees, 2.3% of them must be disabled. The figures are recorded and fines issued to those who don’t comply and given as bonuses to those who do.

　　在日本，如果一家公司雇佣的员工超过43.5人以上，那残障人士的比例就必须达到2.3%。这些数字都会被记录在案，违者罚款，遵守者则会予以奖励。

　　Critics of the system say it leads to a focus on disability rather than skills and misses the point about inclusion.

　　批评该体系的人认为，这种制度导致人们关注的是残疾比例而不是技能，并且失去了包容性的意义。

　　“I had so many job interviews with so many companies,” Mizuki remembers of her job search. Often companies would request her disability passport to look at her workplace needs before deciding whether to proceed.

　　“我参加过很多家公司的求职面试，”美月回忆说。通常在决定是否继续之前，公司都会要她提供残疾护照，以便得知她对工作场所的需求。

　　She believes the quota is a good opportunity to get into work but adds: “Certain jobs are often carved out for the disabled employees – and that often means low skills and low pay.”

　　美月认为配额给残障人士入职提供了一个机遇，但她补充说，“某些工作经常是专门给残障员工设置的 – 那往往意味着低技能和低工资”。

　　Josh works in PR for the Azalee Group which runs a care home, but he feels that “too much emphasis” is put on employers to pay for reasonable adjustments for their disabled staff.

　　乔西在日本福利公司江寿会（the Azalee Group）做公关工作，该公司经营一家养老院。乔西认为，日本“过分强调”雇主的责任，让他们为改善残疾员工的工作环境做出适当的调整并买单。

　　He says it means those disabled people who don’t need workplace adaptations could “become favourites” because they are easier and cheaper to accommodate.

　　他说，这就意味着那些不需要单位为其改造场所的残障人士“更受欢迎”，因为雇佣他们更容易和更经济。

　　Why bullet trains are a drag

　　新干线为什么成拖累？

　　Japan committed to making its transport hubs 100% accessible as part of its Games bid.

　　为了申办奥运会，日本承诺将使其交通枢纽达到百分之百无障碍。

　　And about 96% of Tokyo’s train stations are now accessible after a law was passed to ensure that any station with 3,000 daily users could be used by everyone.

　　日本通过了一项法律，规定任何超过日流量3千人的火车站必须确保让所有人都能使用。这项法律通过后，目前东京96%的火车站已经实现了无障碍。

　　Ramps make rail travel easier but when it comes to travelling on the much-revered bullet trains, Mizuki says it can be a drag. Booking a wheelchair space needs to be done a month or two in advance. “I prefer airplane travel,” she says, although concedes newer trains have more wheelchair spaces.

　　美月表示，轮椅坡道让旅行更容易，但她说新干线旅行反而很麻烦，因为每次乘新干线都要提前一、两个月预定轮椅空间。因此，美月表示自己更愿意坐飞机旅行。不过，她说更新一代的火车轮椅空间更多些。

　　The future of stairs

　　未来的楼梯

　　You can’t think of Japan without thinking about its love of technology – behold the Accessible Elevator (I too thought it would have a better name). This nifty invention temporarily brings three steps of an escalator together to create a flat platform that wheelchair-users can get on.

　　一提到日本，人们自然会想到它发达的科技 – 无障碍电梯。其实就是把自动扶梯的三节台阶临时打开，形成一个能够容下轮椅的平台便于残障人士使用。

　　Josh unflatteringly describes it as an “engineering novelty”.

　　但乔西并不喜欢这种发明，他把它形容为“工程新玩意”。

　　“I find it quite terrifying because I’m always afraid that my wheelchair is going to go flying off,” but when an accessible route is needed, this does the trick, he admits.

　　乔西表示，他觉得很害怕，总是担心自己的轮椅会一不小心“飞出去”。但他也承认，当他需要无障碍通道时，它确实能提供便利。

　　The Sagamihara Stabbings

　　相模原市持刀杀人事件

　　There is tragedy in Japan’s recent history that cannot go unmentioned – the Sagamihara Stabbings.

　　说到日本残障人士，很容易让人想起发生在相模原市的持刀杀人事件。它是日本近代历史中的一个不得不提的悲剧。

　　In 2016 Satoshi Uematsu broke into a care home for disabled people in Sagamihara, where he had worked, and killed 19 residents.

　　2016年，植松圣（Satoshi Uematsu）闯进自己曾工作过的相模原市一家残障人养老院持刀行凶，导致19人死亡，另外还有几十人受伤。

　　Previously, he had written to politicians saying he wanted disabled people to “disappear”.

　　此前，他曾致信给日本政客声称他想让残障人“消失”。

　　As well as the immediate and obvious tragedy, there was another – many of the victims’ families did not want their relatives named.

　　除了这一众所周知的悲剧之外，还有另外一种悲剧 – 那就是许多受害人家属不愿意公开他们亲属的名字。

　　Some speculated this was due to the shame of having a disabled relative, others thought they didn’t want it known they had put a family member in a care home because they felt they had failed them.

　　一些人猜测那可能是因为有些人对有残障人亲属感到耻辱；还有人认为他们不想让别人知道他们把残障家人送进养老院，因为觉得愧疚。

　　Michael Gillan Peckitt an English academic who lives in Kobe and has cerebral palsy, says: “Initially, it had a big effect on Japan. For quite some time the media were raising questions about attitudes towards disabled people and the care system. But time passes, people move on.

　　迈克尔•佩吉特是一位生活在神户的英国学者，他患有脑瘫（cerebral palsy）。迈克尔说，最开始这件事对日本震动很大。很长一段事件，媒体都在质疑人们对残障人士和养老系统的态度。但随着时间推移，人们也就逐渐淡忘了。

　　“It is difficult to keep the issue alive if the families don’t want the names of the victims to be named.”

　　他说，如果受害者家属不愿意公开姓名就很难继续讨论这个问题。

　　Uematsu was sentenced to death.

　　植松圣被判处死刑。

　　Signed with a X

　　残障议员

　　In other ways, Japan is forward-thinking. In 2019 it elected Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura of the Reiwa Shinsengumi Party into parliament. Both are disabled and use careworkers.

　　但另一方面，日本也是一个具有远见的国家。2019年，日本令和新选组政党的船后靖彦（Yasuhiko Funago）与木村英子（Eiko Kimura）入选国会议员。俩人都是残障人士，都使用护工。

　　On their first day the pair were mobbed by the media as they arrived in their reclining wheelchairs.

　　当他们坐着轮椅上任的第一天，成为了媒体的焦点。

　　In January this year, Funago cast a vote in-person at the House of Councillors after a ramp was built into the Upper House. Previously, he relied on a non-disabled staff member to cast it.

　　2021年1月，在日本上议院修好轮椅坡道后，船后靖彦第一次可以本人亲自去投票，而之前他都是依赖别人代他投票。

　　Afterwards, they said in a statement: “It is a very moving experience to be able to directly vote our thoughts.”

　　事后，他们在一份声明中说：“能够直接投票表达我们的想法是一种非常感人的体验”。

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