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Toward Adoption of “Japanese Sign Language Act”Proposal adopted by 1,788 local legislatures – 100% achievement in less than 3 years
A proposal calling for the adoption of a “Japanese Sign Language Act” (provisional name) recognizing sign language as a language with the same legal status as Japanese has been approved by all 1,788 local legislatures in Japan. The last legislature, of the town of Haga in Tochigi Prefecture, approved the proposal on March 3. This comes less than three years after the proposal was first approved by Hakusan City in Ishikawa Prefecture in June 2013. The enactment of a Japanese Sign Language Act has been a major objective of The Nippon Foundation and the Japanese Federation of the Deaf (JFD), which had established a dedicated office within its organization to promote the adoption of this proposal.
The 1,788 local legislatures break down as 47 prefectural assemblies, 1,718 municipal councils, and the councils of Tokyo’s 23 special wards. The JFD has noted that although the individual proposals have some slight differences, they are consistent in their call for the enactment of a law that will recognize sign language as an official language on a par with Japanese, and for the creation of an environment in which sign language can be widely used.
To mark the 100% achievement, Fujisaburo Ishino, president of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, and The Nippon Foundation President Takeju Ogata held a press conference on March 3 at the Nippon Foundation headquarters. Mr. Ishino noted that the central government has not been moving on this issue, and also that 100% local approval of the proposal is not the goal. He expressed his determination that going forward, “We will take strength from the fact that the proposal has been approved by local assemblies, and with this expression of popular will, we will step up our efforts to get the central government to act.”
Mr. Ogata pointed out that this could be the first time all local legislatures have approved the same proposal, and that nothing could give the proposal greater strength. He expressed his hope that the legislation would be passed by around 2018, so that the infrastructure could be in place for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Shinji Hirai, governor of Tottori Prefecture, the first prefecture in Japan to pass sign language legislation, also sent a message of congratulations, expressing his hope that “this will cause the movement to spread nationwide.”
Sign language is already legally recognized in some capacity in approximately 30 countries around the world, with South Korea joining the list at the end of last year. In Japan, 33 local legislatures have passed laws recognizing sign language, and 27 are preparing to do so, showing that the movement to recognize sign language as an official language is spreading.
Sign language was officially designated as a “language” in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, and was first legally recognized in Japan in the 2011 revision to the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities, which states, “All persons with disabilities are guaranteed the opportunity, insofar as possible, to choose their language (including sign language) and other means of communication for mutual understanding.” Some have said that this makes a Japanese Sign Language Act unnecessary, but the JFD is calling for its passage because a specific law is needed to promote the creation of an environment in which sign language is widely used as an official language.
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Communications Department
The Nippon Foundation
