This article is also available in: 日本語
This week has been very special for me.
On September 27th, I was invited to a reception of disability community with Senator Thomas Harkin at the U.S. Ambassador Residence in Tokyo.
Senator Thomas Harkin is one of the important people that push ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act) to be signed into law and has put strong effort to eliminate discriminations against people with disabilities over 30 years.
I received the invitation while I was still in Syracuse.
So, I told some of my colleagues and professors who research about disability field in Syracuse University that I am going to meet Senator Tomas Harkin, and they were surprised and said that I was very fortunate to meet him in person.
On the reception day, Jeff and I dressed up, which we barely do in daily life, and went to the Ambassador’s residence.
It is located right next to U.S. Embassy. The entrance of residence was equipped with temporal ramps so that Moon Riders (=wheelchair users) can enter.
Also there were two temporal wheelchair accessible restrooms outside near the entrance.
When Jeff and I got to the entrance, there were already a lot of people in the residence.
There were about 100 people. The residence is not small, but with 100 guests and some people in wheelchairs, it was hard for me to go around in the room…!
However, it was still a great opportunity to meet new people there. I could talk with people from disability organizations or NGO/NPO related to disability field.
Especially I was really glad that I could finally meet Ms. Yuriko Oda.
She has distal myopathy, a rare disease of muscular dystrophy, and uses a wheelchair like me.
She has done a lot of works for the patients with the same disease and published some books as well.
Since she also has researched in Denmark before with the same sponsorship that I had for researching in the U.S., I always wanted to meet her in person.
She is very beautiful, of course, very kind and with a strong will.
No wonder she has achieved so many things even with her busy schedule.
Soon after the reception started, Jeff noticed that a very famous Japanese blind pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii, was sitting in a chair near us.
Then, after the Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Senator Thomas Harkin delivered a short talk, Mr. Tsujii was introduced and played two beautiful songs for the guests.
It was like a dream that we could watch and listen to his performance in real. His performance was very delicate and powerful.
After Mr. Tsujii’s performance, I had a chance to talk with Senator Thomas Harkin in person.
He is a very openhearted person and polite to answer my question, “What is your ideal society for people with disabilities?”, which I always asked people when I interviewed in the U.S.
Senator Thomas Harkin said that his ideal society is where people with disabilities can choose what they want in life like everyone else, people without disabilities have appropriate attitude toward people with disabilities, and having a concept of universal design which everyone with and without disabilities can benefit from it.
From what he explained, I found that he truly cares about people with disabilities and has put a lot of effort to make the society more accessible and to give them equal opportunity at every single of scene in life.
One day, I would love to contribute to make more powerful laws and regulations that protect rights of people with disabilities too.
Lastly, Jeff and I took a picture wth Senator Thomas Harkin. This is one of our most treasurable moments.
I also had an opportunity to meet the Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.
I told her about my research in the U.S., and she replied saying that U.S. Embassy is willing to help my research. That is very kind of her.
Actually U.S. Embassy already supported my research by introducing U.S. governors in Washington D.C.
Without their support, I could not have interviewed at U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Labor, and EEOC.
I really appreciate U.S. Embassy’s kind support.
It has been 2 weeks since I left U.S., and I am missing the people and environment already because somehow I feel I am less powerful in my country due to limited accessibility and people’s attitude.
But this reception encouraged me and gave me power to move forward to the next stage of my life in Japan.
I thank the Ambassador Caroline Kennedy for hosting this event.
Also it was very honored to meet and talk with Senator Thomas Harkin who changed the lives of people with disabilities in the U.S.