By Mark Bookman Accessibility affects the way that we interact with religious sites and ideas. A single step up at a church, temple, or shrine can shape the way that a person with a disability uses those spaces, creating new possibilities for community formation. Consider a person who cannot chant Read more…
By Mark Bookman Kabuki theatre is, among other things, an immersive encyclopedia of Japan. Audience members assume the role of pilgrims who are guided through the country’s landmarks, literatures, teachings, and aesthetics by expert actors. In one afternoon, a loyal Kabuki patron can experience epic battles like those fought by Read more…
By Mark Bookman When you put on a pair of rabbit ears and join a troupe of elegantly-dressed maids in a solemn prayer for the deliciousness of your beer, disability hardly seem to matter. In fact, it is often the so-called able-bodied among us who find themselves paralyzed by delight, Read more…
Suzanne Kamata is the author of the YA novels Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible, Screaming Divas and the travelogue A Girls’ Guide to the Islands, about traveling in Japan with her daughter who has multiple disabilities. Her newest book, Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Read more…
April 13 will mark 500 days before the start of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on August 25, 2020. To celebrate this, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government are planning celebrations from Monday April 1 to Saturday April 13. The Read more…
By Mark Bookman On Thursday, October 11th, 2018 I had the opportunity to visit the 45th International Home Care and Rehabilitation Exhibition (HCR) at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, Japan. The three-day exhibition is the largest of its kind in Asia and features products from a wide range of vendors, Read more…