Japan

From AASL

Revision as of 17:59, 30 March 2012

Indigenous signs for "Japan"

Illustrations in the literature

"Japan" (In: Japanese Federation of the Deaf ed. Supervisor: Hedberg, Tomas. 2003. Country name-signs. Helsinki, Finland: World Federation of the Deaf. 10.)

Spoken languages

Japanese

Sign languages

Japanese Sign Language

Amami O Shima Sign Language

Population of Deaf/deaf people

• 317,000 (VanCleve 1986　Ethnologue, 16th Edition).

• The National Government’s official number of Deaf people : 312,000. Japanese Federation of the Deaf's official or approximate number of Deaf people: 23,905. (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.)

Legal status of sign languages

Organizations and associations of the Deaf/deaf

Japanese Federation of the Deaf (JFD) (WFD member; established in 1947. (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.))

Institutes, associations and universities for sign language studies

Education for the deaf

• Access to Education from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).

1.The government recognizes that Deaf children and Deaf students have the right to receive an education.

2.Legislation or policies on Deaf Education:

a) Fundamental Law of Education

b) School Education Law

3.The government provides those educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf students:

Early intervention (Up to 5 years old)

Kindergarten (Between 3/4 years old to 5/6 years old)

Primary (From 5/6 years old to 12/13 years old)

Secondary (From 12/13 years old to 17/18 years old)

University (After 18 years old)

Vocational Education/Training

4.The government provides bilingual education using the country’s sign language(s) for Deaf children and Deaf students in those educational settings:

None

5.Total number of schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students in the country, and the educational approach for communicating with Deaf children and students at the Deaf School:

106 Schools

Bilingual Education

Oral Method

Cued Speech

Oral and Sign Language (Total Communication)

Auditory Verbal

6.Deaf people’s access to a University education and sign language interpreting services at University:

Almost all universities provide access. There are no universities that reject Deaf students from taking entrance examinations.　

No sign language interpreting service.

Sign language interpretation

• Japanese Association of Sign Language Interpreters

• The National Research Association for Sign Language Interpretation (Zen-tsu-ken)

• There is an association of sign language interpreters in this country. from WASLI Activities Report 2007-2011 (See Bibliography below).

• Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).

1.The number of sign language interpreters in the country:

Nationally Certified Sign Language Interpreters: 1,789 as of March 2007

Locally Registered Sign Language Interpreters: around 20,000 as of 2003

2.Sign language interpreting qualifications in the country:

There is.

3.The provider of the training for people who want to become qualified sign language interpreters:

Community College

Other: Many local governments allocate a budget for Sign Language Interpreter Training projects and offer sign language courses for the public in co-operation with local associations of the Deaf.

4.Total years of training to become a sign languate interpreters:

Three years: Local governments throughout the country offer 3-year courses to train Sign Language Helpers who can interpret on the level of daily conversations. It usually takes 2-5 years of actual interpreting experience to pass the National Qualification Examination of Sign Language Interpretation (for National Certification of Sign Language Interpreters).

5.The number of sign language interpreters who have formal interpreting qualifications in the country:

Nationally Certified Sign Language Interpreters: 1,789 as of March 2007.

Prefectural administrations and municipal administrations also conduct qualification examinations for sign language interpreters working in the local setting.

6.The way Deaf people access sign language interpreters:

A Deaf person can request sign language interpreting services at the focal point of his residential area, such as a Sign Language Interpreter Dispatch Centre, Volunteer Centre, Information Centre for the Deaf and Local Associations of the Deaf.

7.The provider of the sign language interpreting services:

Government

Otherｓ: Most local governments provide a sign language interpreting service through local associations of the Deaf as an entrusted project

8.The area of life sign language interpreting services are available:

Social Services

Health/Medical Services

Employment Services

Court Services

Educational Services

Counselling Services

Financial Institutions

Funerals/Weddings

Entertainment

9.The payment for interpreting services, and those who are responsible for paying:

Sign language interpreters receive payment for interpreting services

Government pays: Government is basically responsible for paying interpreters for services required by Deaf persons.

Others: Interpreters may also be hired and paid by enterprises, organisations, private individuals, and so forth.

10.The average hourly rate of payment for sign language interpreters:

1100 Yen per hour - National average (7.00€ on 31st January 2008)

11.Sign language interpreters sometimes provide voluntary service for sign language interpreting assignments.

12.National Association of Sign Language Interpreters:

independent from the National Association of the Deaf.

13.National Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters:

There is.

14.Legislation or policy in the country which states that the government has a responsibility for the provision of sign language :

Law for the Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons

Law for Promoting Businesses that Facilitate the Use of Communications and Broadcast Services by the Physically Disabled Persons

Fundamental Law for Disabled Persons

Measures and policies of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Project to nationally promote social participation of persons with disabilities

• Data on sign language interpretation in this country collected in 2006 by a similar questionnaire research by WASLI are in the WASLI Newsletter 2007 issue six (See Bibliography below).

1.The sign language in the country :

Japanese Sign Language

2.Spoken languages:

Japanese

Deaf communities and cultures

Religious activities by the Deaf

Famous Deaf persons and hearing persons concerned with sign languages

Sign language dictionaries

Nihon Shuwa Kenkyusho ed. 1997. Nihongo-Shuwa jiten. Tokyo: Zen Nihon Roa Renmei. (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies ed. 1997. Japanese-Sign language dictionary. Tokyo: Japanese Federation of the Deaf. [In Japanese])

Japanese Federation of the Deaf. Institute for Sign Language Studies(Editorial Board: Honna, Nobuyuki, Mihoko Kato, Michiko Tsuchiya and Kunihiko Sadahiro) eds. 1991. An English dictionary of basic Japanese signs. Tokyo: Japanese Federation of the Deaf.

Chinese YMCA Hong Kong, Taipei YMCA, Kuala Lumpur YMCA, Osaka YMCA eds. 1989. Speaking with Signs.(Fourth Version) Osaka: Osaka YMCA. [A dictionary ofHong Kong Sign Language, Taiwanese Sign Language, Japanese Sign Languageand Malaysian Sign Language. with a page of fingerspelling of Korean Sign Language ]

Chinese YMCA Hong Kong, Taipei YMCA, The Society for the Deaf in Selangor and the Federal Teritory, Osaka YMCA eds. 1984. Speaking with Signs.(Third Version) Osaka: OsakaYMCA. [A dictionary ofHong Kong Sign Language,Taiwanese Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language andMalaysian Sign Language. with a page of fingerspelling of Korean Sign Language ]

1980. Speaking with Signs.(Second Version) Osaka:Osaka YMCA. [A dictionary ofHong Kong Sign Language,Taiwanese Sign Language andJapanese Sign Language ]

1979. Speaking with Signs.(Book One) Hong Kong:Chinese YMCA. [A dictionary ofHong Kong Sign Language,Taiwanese Sign Language andJapanese Sign Language ]

Bibliography

Mori, Soya. 2011. Pluralization: An Alternative to Existing Hegemony in JSL. In: Mathur, Gaurav and Donna Jo Napoli eds. Deaf around the World, The Impact of Language. 333-338. New York, USA. Oxford University Press.

Nakamura, Karen. 2011. The Language Politics of Japanese Sign Language (Nihon Shuwa). In: Mathur, Gaurav and Donna Jo Napoli eds. Deaf around the World, The Impact of Language. 316-332. New York, USA. Oxford University Press.

WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2011. WASLI country reports　2011 Japan Kampala, UGANDA.

WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2011. WASLI Activities Report 2007-2011. Kampala, UGANDA.

World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf. 2008. Global Survey Report. WFD Regional Secretariat for Asia and the Pacific (WFD RSA/P). Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. World Federation of the Deaf. Finland.

Nippon Foundation. 2007. Gallaudet students visit the Nippon Foundation. Tokyo : Nippon foundation.

Sasaki, Daisuke. 2007. Comparing the Lexicons of Japanese Sign Language and Taiwan Sign Language: A Preliminary Study Focusing on the Difference in the Handshape Parameter. In : Quinto-Pozos, David ed. Sign Language in Contact. 123-150. Washington, DC. Gallaudet University Press.

WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2007. Japan. In: WASLI country reports　2007. 20-23. Kampala, UGANDA.

WASLI. 2007. WASLI Newsletter 2007 Issue 6 Kampala, UGANDA.

Morgan, Michael W. 2006. Interrogatives and negatives in Japanese Sign Language. In: Zeshan, Ulrike. ed. Interrogative and Negative Constructions in Sign Languages. Sign Language Typology Series No. 1. Nijmegen: Ishara Press. 91-127.

Nakamura, Karen. 2006. Deaf in Japan: signing and politics of identity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Nakamura, Karen. 2006. Creating and contesting signs in contemporary Japan: language ideologies, identity and community in flux. In : Sign Language Studies 7: 11-29.

Torigoe, Takashi. 2006. Japanese Sign Language, In: Nakayama, Mineharu, Reiko .Mazuka and Yasuhiro.Shirai eds, Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics. Volume 2 Japanese. Cambridge University Press. 137-143.

WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2005. Japan. In: Country report 2005. 21-22. Kampala, Uganda

Ann, Jean. 2003. The Chiying school in Taiwan: A foreigner's perspective. In: Monaghan, Leila, Constanze Schmaling, Karen Nakamura and Graham H. Turner eds. Many ways to be Deaf: International variation in Deaf communities. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. 230-248. [Including information of Taiwan,　Chinese Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language and Taiwanese Sign Language ]

Nakamura, Karen. 2003. U-turns, Deaf shock, and the hard of hearing: Japanese Deaf identities at the borderlands. In: Monaghan, Leila, Constanze Schmaling, Karen Nakamura and Graham H. Turner eds. Many ways to be Deaf: International variation in Deaf communities. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. 211-229.

Sasaki, Daisuke. 2003. Comparing the lexicon of sign languages in East Asia : A preliminary study focusing on the influence of Japanese Sign Language on Taiwan Sign Language. Unpublished manuscript, University of Texas, Austin.

Guerra Currie, Anne-Marie P., Richard P. Meier and Keith Walters. 2002. A crosslinguistic examination of the lexicons of four signed languages. In: Meier, Richard P., Kearsy Cormier, David Quinto-Pozos eds. Modality and Structure in Signed and Spoken Languages. 224-236. Cambridge University Press. UK.

Nakamura, Karen. 2002. Resistance and Co‐optation: the Japanese Federation of the Deaf and its Relations with State Power. In Social Science Japan Journal (SSJJ) (2002) Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 17-35.

Nakamura, Karen. 2001. Deaf identities, sign languages, and minority social movement politics in modern Japan (1868-2000). Ph.D.dissertation., C.T., USA: Yale University.

Takada, Eiichi. 2001. Solidarity and movements of the deaf and hard of hearing in Asia. In : Asia and Pacific Journal on Disability. 4 (2) 6-19.

Valentine, James. 2001. Disabled discourse: hearing accounts of deafness constructed through Japanese television and film. In : Disability & Society. 61: 707-721.

Fischer, Susan and Yutaka Osugi. 2000. Thumbs up vs. giving the finger: Indexical classifiers in NS and ASL. Paper presented at the Seventh Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR 7), Amsterdam.

Minoura, Nobukatsu and Yasuhiro Ichida. 2000: Direct/inverse forms and the fourth person of the agreement verbs in Japanese Sign Language. Poster presented at the 7th International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research. July 23rd-27th. Amsterdam. Manuscript.

2000. Japan. In : Turkington, Carol, and Allen E. Sussman eds. The encyclopedia of deafness and hearing disorders, second edition. New York : Facts on File. 117.

2000. Japanese Sign Language. In : Turkington, Carol, and Allen E. Sussman eds. The encyclopedia of deafness and hearing disorders, second edition. New York : Facts on File. 117.

Ogawa, Yuko. 1999. Vertical Scale Metaphors in Japanese and Japanese Sign Language. In : Sign Language Studies. 2(3). 296-321.

Osugi, Yutaka, Ted Supalla and Rebecca Webb. 1999. The use of word elicitation to identify distinctive gestural systems on Amami Island. In: Sign Language & Linguistics vol.2 no.1.87-112.

Tsuchiya, Michiko. 1999. Education of the deaf in Japan : Its development and current issues. In : Global perspectives on the education of the deaf in selected countries. Hillsboro, Ore. : Butte Publications. 205-218.

Osugi, Yutaka and Supalla, Ted. 1998. Structural analysis of gender handshapes in Nihon Shuwa(Japanese Sign Language). In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 27(1998.03) :60-74.

Nakamura, Karen. 1998. U-turns, Deaf shock, and the Hard-of-hearing: Japanese deaf identities at the borderlands. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 27(1998.03) :58-59.(translated by Nakamura, Karen: in Japanese) [the report from the invited panel on sign language sociolinguistics at the 96th Annual Meeting of the America Anthropological Association. Washington DC. Nov.11-19 1997]

Mori, Soya. 1998. Deaf nations: Identity and ideology in Japanese sign language communities. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 27(1998.03) :58.(translated by Nakamura, Karen: in Japanese) [the report from the invited panel on sign language sociolinguistics at the 96th Annual Meeting of the America Anthropological Association. Washington DC. Nov.11-19 1997]

Nonaka, Angela M.　1998. Deaf-initions of cultural identity in contemporary Japan. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 27(1998.03) :57-58.(translated by Nakamura, Karen: in Japanese) [the report from the invited panel on sign language sociolinguistics at the 96th Annual Meeting of the America Anthropological Association. Washington DC. Nov.11-19 1997]

Okamoto, Inemaru. 1997. Kindai moorookyooiku no seiritu to hatten : Hurukawa Toisiroo no syoogai kara. [The Rise and Development of Modern Blind/Deaf Education : From the Life of Toshiro furukawa.] Tokyo : NHK(Nihon Hoosoo Kyokai).

Kato, Daisuke. 1996. Education at the Japan Oral School for the Deaf (Nippon Rowa Gakko), In : Early Child Development and Care. 122: 51-62.

Kimura, Harumi and Ichida Yasuhiro. 1995. Hazimete no Syuwa. Tokyo : Nihonbungeisha.

Torigoe, Takashi and Harumi Kimura. 1995. Deaf Life on Isoraled Japanese Islands. In : Sign Language Studies. 24. 167-174.

Tsuchiya, Michiko. 1994. The deaf Japanese and their self-identity. In: Erting, Carol J., Robert C. Johnson, Dorothy L. Smith, and Bruce D. Snider eds. The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the international conference on Deaf culture. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.　65-68.

Torigoe, Takashi. 1994. Resumptive X structures in Japanese Sign Language. In : Ahlgren, Inger / Bergman, Brita / Brennan, Mary eds. Perspectives on Sign Language Structure. Durham : International Sign Linguistics Association. 187-200.

1992. Japan In : Turkington, Carol, and Allen E. Sussman eds. The encyclopedia of deafness and hearing disorders [first edition]. New York : Facts on File.

Honna, Nobuyuki and Mihoko Kato. 1991. The sign language situation in Japan : problems and solutions. In: Equality and Self-reliance. Proceedings of the XI World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, Tokyo, Japan, July 1991. 716-732.

Tajima, Masao. 1988. The present state and issues of the hard of hearing movement in Japan. (Presented at the 16th World Congress of Rehabilitation International).

Yosuke, Kawai. 1988. Welfare of hearing impaired persons in Japan.　(Presented at the 16th World Congress of Rehabilitation International).

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1987. Sign languages : Japanese. In : Van Cleve, John V. (editor in chief), Gallaudet College eds. Gallaudet encyclopedia of deaf people and deafness. New York: McGraw-Hill. vol.3. 89-92.

Arakawa, Isamu. 1987. Japan. In : Van Cleve, John V. (editor in chief), Gallaudet College eds. Gallaudet encyclopedia of deaf people and deafness. New York: McGraw-Hill. vol.2. 109-112.

Imanishi, Takao. 1985. Origin and growth. In: I. G. Taylor ed. The Education of the Deaf. Current Perspectives, vol. 4. 2018-2019.

Yonekawa, Akihiko. 1984. The history of the Japanese word shuwa (sign language). In : Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies. 6: 11-16.

Yonekawa, Akihiko. 1982. Silent communication in the middle of the Meiji period. In : Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies. 4: 26-39.

Peng, FCC. 1974. Kinship signs in Japanese Sign Language. In : Sign Language Studies. 5: 31-47.

Kawamoto, Unosuke. 1933. The development of education for the deaf in Japan. In : Proceedings of the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf, New Jersey School for the Deaf, June 18 to 23, 1933. 594-600.

Wright, John Dutton. 1926. Schools for the Deaf in the Orient. In : Volta Review.28: 49-52. [Subsequent articles on pp. 348-355; 415-417; 593-595; 769-770; report on South Asian schools.(includs Philippines, Japan, Burma(Myanmar), India and Ceylon(Sri Lanka))

Kramer, Lois F. 1925. Five years of speech for deaf children. In : Japan Evangelist. (1925, July) 246-47.

Kramer, Lois F. 1921. Making the eyes to hear: the story of the Japan deaf oral school. In : Japan Evangelist. (1921, Oct.) 250-252.

1915. Short account of the Tokyo Ro-a Gakko. Tokyo: Tokyo Ro-a Gakko.

1915. Teaching the Deaf in China, Japan, and Korea. In : Volta Review. 17: 314.

Simmons, A. L. 1912. The deaf in Japan. In : The Teacher of the Deaf. 10: 79-82.

Konishi, Shimpachi. 1910. Education of the blind and dumb. In: Education in Japan; prepared for the Japan-Britain Exhibition, 1910. Part 9: 1-13. Tokyo: Department of Education.

1903. Monographs on the Education of the Blind and Deaf in the Kyoto, Japan, Institution. In : Association Review. 5 : 397.

1903. Short account of the Tokyo Blind and Dumb school. Tokyo: Tokyo Blind and Dumb School [Moa-Gakko].

1899. Rapport sommaire sur l'Ecole des Aveugles et des Sourds-Muets de Tokyo. In : The Association Review, an educational magazine. 2 (1900): 189-191,

1883. Deaf-mute education in Japan. In : American Annals of the Deaf. 28 (4) 271-272.

Saruhashi, Junko and Yuko Takeshita. Ten Linguistic Issues in Japan: The Impact of Globalization. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Films and videos

Sign Media Inc. ed. 1990. Signs around the world. Japan. Burtonsville, Maryland: SMI (30 min.)

Researchers

History of sign language research

Events

Links

Deaf cultures and Sign Languages of the world: Japan

Fingeralphabete (Japan)

Kyoto Prefectural Education Center Website with explanations in English

Japanese Association of Sign Language Interpreters

Japanese Association of Sign Linguistics (JASL)

Sign Puddle Online 1.5 : Write Sign Language Dictionaries & Literature in Any Sign Language in the World...

Bibliography on Deaf Communities in Japan by Karen Nakamura -- Yale University (last updated on October 7th, 1995 and has 55 references.)

Notes