Japan Press Weekly

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2016 June 22 - 28 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP Tamura: government support for Paralympians should be improved

The 2016 Summer Paralympic Games will take place in Rio de Janeiro in September. Public expectation for the performance of Japanese athletes is growing. However, in Japan, government support for Paralympians falls far short of meeting such expectations. Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko has called on the government to increase its support.

The results of a survey by the Paralympians Association of Japan showed that such participation costs as accommodation, transportation, and competitive equipment pertaining to domestic and foreign competitions averaged about 1.44 million yen a year. In the survey, 60% of para-athletes said that they annually spend more than one million yen to participate in the competitions.

Ichinose Mei, a 19-year-old member of the national swimming team for the Rio Paralymipcs, said, “Paralympians are expected to produce the same results as Olympians. However, in Japan, it is difficult for many para-athletes to focus only on the quadrennial sports event.”

Ichinose said, “When I lived in Britain, I practiced swimming with a coach once a week. The supportive sporting environment surrounding people with disabilities is totally different from Japan.” Ichinose, in her childhood, experienced the refusal of her application for admission to a local swimming club due to her physical handicaps.

The number of coaches registered to the Japanese Para-Sports Association stood at about 210,000, remaining at about the same level for the past decade. They have to pay for necessary expenses out of their own pockets. In addition, Japan lacks sports facilities which allow exclusive or preferential use to impaired persons. When looking around the country, only 114 facilities open to disabled people can be found.

Suzuki Toru, 36, will become a five-time Paralympian in the men’s high jump in the Rio Games. He said, “Compared to urban areas, disabled persons in rural areas have less opportunities to enjoy sports. To build more para-sports facilities in those areas will contribute to increasing the number of para-athletes.”

The JCP is demanding an increase in government financial assistance to para-athletes along with government measures to promote disabled people’s participation in sports by increasing the number of handicapped-user-friendly sports facilities and qualified coaches.