Breaking Down the Barriers

by Michelle Cook

On this crisp autumn day, the Akashiya Kai group is meeting at Hokkaido Shrine in Maruyama Park, Sapporo. Children in brightly coloured kimonos run excitedly up and down the shrine's main steps for an early celebration of the shichi-go-san festival. Adjacent to these steps is a single, steep ramp with a seven-centimeter step at the bottom; today, it's slippery with rain. One of the group's wheelchair-bound members tries to maneuver over it but can't. When asked who they can turn to with problems like this, group leader Mamoru Takamori says the gods will have to be asked to help improve access for Sapporo's handicapped citizens.

According to a Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare survey, there are more than 2.8 million disabled people in Japan. Sapporo has approximately 56,000 physically disabled citizens, three percent of the city's population. Imagine you are one of them. How accessible is Sapporo? The Akashiya Kai group has been meeting annually for 10 years to check handicapped access to city facilities.

Satoshi Nitsu, a special education teacher in Sapporo, says the number of handicapped coming to live in Hokkaido is increasing and one reason is that the roads and street system are more easily navigable for them. The city is criss-crossed by an extensive yellow tile (tenji block) system which helps blind citizens maneuver. But as one Akashiya Kai member points out, these are virtually useless in winter. This imperfection sums up the situation for the disabled of Sapporo. They live in a city in progress; access is improving, but it is not yet complete.

A quick survey of some of the city's commonly used facilities reveals that Sapporo City Hall and the Hokkaido Government building are both accessible. Many public buildings also have Braille-equipped elevators and information boards. Several larger bank branches and post offices, and department stores are equipped with access ramps. Many older buildings and smaller shops, especially those outside the city center, however, do not have ramps or elevators and merchants are not legally obligated to install them.

According to a Sapporo City Transportation employee, all stations on the Toho subway line have elevators and disabled-access toilets. The other lines have elevators in 15 of their 23 stations and disabled-access toilets in 13. However, a difference in level between trains and platforms means wheelchair-bound customers can't use the subway independently.

To improve the quality of life for the disabled, groups like Akashiya Kai write letters to places with barriers and meet with municipal officials.

Far from the city center, in Sapporo's quiet Fujino district, there is evidence that these efforts to improve the quality of life for the disabled have not been in vain. Mukudori Park has been specially designed for handicapped people. Completed in 1996 as the first neighbourhood park of its kind in Sapporo, it is equipped with handrails, tenji block tiles, Braille information boards, and climbing apparatus, slides and swings for the physically impaired.

Takamori explains it is only a prototype, but Mukudori Park is an indication that, while Sapporo still needs to be improved, it is slowly becoming a city where all citizens can enjoy life to the fullest.