In Memory of Mr. Ichiro Maruyama – A True Fighter for People with Disabilities

Mr. Maruyama was the Secretary General of WI Asia (Workability International Asia), he founded the Regional NGO Network (RNN) to promote the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities 1993-2002. Among his countless contributions, one of the most outstanding achievements was to start the training courses on rehabilitation of persons with disabilities which were implemented while he was working as an expert officer in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 1985. Mr. Maruyama devoted his whole life for people with disabilities in assisting them to realize their potential, making effective governmental policies and inspiring the creation of disability networks not only in Japan but in the region and in the world. Mr. Maruyama (middle), WI-Asia Regional Mr. Maruyama (back row, 2nd from the left), Meeting in Taiwan, 2006 WI-Asia Conference in Seoul, 2007Condolence from Eden Social Welfare FoundationThere are no words to adequately describe the sadness we felt upon hearing of the loss of Mr. Maruyama. He always guided us and supported us in every occasion since the first day we met him. His dedication, commitment and all efforts to the PWDs, which were deeply, inspired many of us here and even beyond all political and beneficial conflicts. Therefore, whenever we meet challenges in moving forward of our work, we think about the model Mr. Maruyama had set up for us and encouraged us to keep walking and look forward.We prayed hard for Mr. Maruyama’s health since the day we heard about his health condition. We fought with Mr. Maruyama together for against with cancer however we have to let God to take Mr. Maruyama gone to have the eternal rest with Him from all sufferings and pains, although it is so hard for any of us to say Goodbye to Mr. Maruyama. The great model he had set up for all followers will always leading us to continue the commitment and efforts he had contributed to all people with disabilities. Everyone in Eden Social Welfare Foundation joins together in sending our prayers and wholehearted condolences to Mr. Maruyama’s family. With all our sympathies,Huang Cho SungChief Executive Director, CEOEden Social Welfare FoundationOn December 5th, 2007, Ichiro Maruyama received the Special Masao Ogura Award from the Yamato Welfare Foundation. This is the English translation of his acceptance speech at the Award Ceremony.I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your presence today. I have been under treatment since last April when a malignant tumor was discovered. As you can see, nutrients are being injected intravenously. I am not entirely sure, and therefore I feel a bit shy, when I wonder if my work is worthy of receiving the award in the name of the late Mr. Masao Ogura. However, I decided to accept it with a tremendous sense of gratitude for the kindness of so many people. I am particularly happy to do so also because I can share this honor with my wife, and the entire family, who have been going through a very difficult time for all these years. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. With your permission, I would like to have my son read my speech as I easily get tired and am unable to sustain my voice.It was in 1964, 43 years ago when I was still a college student and participated in the Tokyo Paralympics as a volunteer interpreter under the auspices of the Japanese Red Cross. Japanese athletes were all sent either from the hospitals or shelters and institutions where they were treated as patients. None of them had jobs. No one even thought they could be employable. Contrary to this, the athletes from the West were all ordinary working people in their respective society. We learnt that even those with severe disabilities were full members of society working in various kinds of jobs. Compared to where they came from, they told us, the Japanese environment for the people with disabilities (PWDs) was at least 30 to 50 years behind. At the Japanese team wrap party, the athletes were happy and proud that they could participate in the wonderful world that celebrated humanity. At the same time, however, they were all in tears with the thought of having to go back to their lives of no hope.　The difference between Japanese society and that of the West’s was staggering. I was aghast at the misery of Japanese conditions.I chose “Disability and Productivity” as the theme of my graduation thesis. While organizing volunteer groups to assist Paralympics athletes toward their employment, I researched the working conditions and situations of the PWDs who were not employed in a true sense. I visited the workshop in Hakone (*the remote mountainous area of Kanagawa) for disabled veterans. There were only a few workshops in Tokyo and Kanagawa area. At these facilities, people were engaged in menial work and they all had gloomy and sad expressions on their faces. At the Tokyo Colony, they lived in partitioned passenger cars no longer used by the Japan Railway. Their meals were left over foods from the hospitals. How moved I was at the sight of recovering tuberculosis patients such as Mr. Kazuoki Shirabe who were trying to create places of employment on their own. The patients hovered over mimeograph machines on their beds. Furthermore, I had an opportunity to visit the athletes in the United States and Europe who participated in the Tokyo Paralympics at the places of their employment. Through this trip, I came to understand such fundamental approaches towards disability as distinctions between rehabilitation and employment programs and creations of an inclusive social environment where everyone, PWDs included, could live together harmoniously. I witnessed many people with severe disabilities, for whom open employment was hard to obtain, enjoying their work at the Goodwill Industries and Abilities in the United States. I was encouraged by watching many European athletes working in the program under the special assistance employment policy such as Remploy in the UK.Japan’s situation, so far behind the West, seemed absolutely hopeless. At the same time, however, I thought: if the West could achieve this much, Japan should be able to do so too. A report of my study tour in the West was presented to Mr. Yutaka Nakamura, Head of the Japanese team at the Paralympics. My proposal was to build a modern factory, not tiny shops for menial jobs. Thus, I joined the fund raising activities to build what was later to become “Japan Sun Industries.” In its original Japanese, Mr. Tsutomu Mizukami (author/novelist) named it as "Taiyo no Ie" (meaning "the House of Sun"). While he decided to use the word "Ie" (meaning "house" or "home") with special thoughts in his heart for persons with disabilities, the word "Industries" was chosen for translation for its English version of the name. After graduating from the university, I wasted no time in joining the Japan Sun Industries located in Beppu, Kyushu. I wanted to put what I learnt at the university like plant design, quality control and motion study into practical use. In retrospect, I was totally engrossed and inspired. The first production was bamboo crafts. Three years later, when we became a part supplier for the Sharp Corporation, we were ecstatic. Unlike anywhere else, the Japan Sun Industries continues its operations to date by employing more than 1,100 PWDs who manufacture products for the affiliated major companies like Omron, Sony, Honda, Mitsubishi Corporation and Fujitsu. Behind this progress lies tremendous efforts by able administrators like Mr. Yoshihiro Ikata and PWDs who came to work from all over Japan. Forty-three years has passed since the Tokyo Paralympics. I was fortunate to have been guided by wonderful leaders and mentors like Messrs. Kazuoki Shirabe, Hajime Ogawa and Kenji Itayama. I was also lucky to have had capable friends and colleagues in and out of Japan. Together with them, I had opportunities to work in all kinds of disability related issues; to name a few, vocational rehabilitation, promotion of employment and work, welfare factory management, development of diversified forms of work, environment improvement movements, promotion of measures to help PWDs, and development of human resources as well as employment in Asia. I am delighted to be in the company of Mr. Akiyoshi Yamada today as a fellow recipient of the award. He and I go back a long ways, from the days when we worked together to widen the PWDs’ living environment. If I may humbly say, I made a small contribution as a liaison to coordinate activities among many disability organizations that exist in Japan to promote international cooperation. It was a great pleasure for me that all these disability related activities and experiences enabled me to act as a public relations person during the United Nation’s International Year of Disabled Persons and to make various program proposals as a welfare officer during my years in the Japanese government.Much progress has been made in the intervening years. We provided information to enhance public awareness and to call the political attentions towards disability issues. We made coordinated efforts among different organizations and movements. All these efforts are attributed to the introduction of the Basic Pension Program・Special Allowance for PWDs. We were very happy that the income security for PWDs was improved and their lives were drastically changed for the better. We were proud of the big step forward Japan made. The entire nation accepted the responsibility of bearing the necessary costs to create a harmonious Japanese society. We also saw it as Japan’s concrete contribution by being an exemplary model for the rest of Asia. By furthering the progress made thus far, we had high expectations that additional steps forward would lead to the solutions of many remaining problems. To move from “Full participation and Equality” to “Society for All” was a goal set by the United Nations to eradicate disability problems. With regards to development, Japan was behind the West by 50 years. But efforts and resulting improvement helped minimize the gap.However, this hopeful development was arrested. Making an entire society harmonious is the fundamental key in addressing disability issues. Our perseverance stopped making further inroads in the shadow of the weakening social security resulting from the countries’ fiscal crisis. Now, I would even say it has regressed. People who live in the most difficult conditions are excluded in the debate on social security as a whole. The debate circumvents the notion of what the fundamental idea of a harmonious society is or should be. Set the goal whereby persons with severe disabilities can lead a normal social life. It will bring the benefits to everyone in our society. I wish to reactivate our efforts once again to have all the sectors of society to have a greater understanding of this. How I wish to bring back our energy that gave birth to the Disability Basic Pension!On the employment front, persons with disabilities - and therefore with low productivity - are dealt with under the welfare programs. They continue to be excluded from the measures under the employment policy. The International Labor Organization’s recommendation made more than 50 years ago was that PWDs be included in the employment policy. The representation we submitted to the ILO recently sends a message to the government, and entire society, which includes businesses, labor unions, and social welfare operators. We cannot and should not acquiesce any longer.My days are numbered, but I urge that a coalition be formed so that they can carry on what has been started and work toward solving problems. I feel Mr. Ogura, with this award, is going after me not to give up our struggle till the end. Thank you again, ladies and gentlemen. I am much honoredIchiro Maruyama Japanese Version

第8回ヤマト福祉財団小倉昌男　特別賞　受賞日本障害者協議会　副代表埼玉県立大学　保健医療福祉学部社会福祉学科教授　丸山　一郎　氏受賞のことば本日はお越しくだされ誠にありがとうございます。この4月に腫瘍が見つかり療養中でありまして、ご覧のように栄養を中心静脈の点滴でしております。この度のこと、私がしてきましたことが、小倉昌男さんの賞に値するのかお恥ずかしいところがありますが、本当に多くの皆様のご厚情に感謝しあり難く頂くことにしました。ことに大変な苦労をかけてきました妻や家族に少しは報えるかと喜んでおります。皆様誠にありがとう御座いました。疲れで声が止まりますので、息子にメモを代読させますことをお許しください。約40年まえの1964年、私の学生のときです。日本赤十字社の通訳ボランティアとして参加した「東京パラリンピック」では、目を見張る激しいスポーツをする日本の選手はすべて病人か患者として扱われ、病院と収容施設から来ておりました。働いている人は誰一人としていませんでした、働けると思っている人もいませんでした。一方、欧米の選手はすべてが普通の社会人で、かなりの重い障害のある人でも、さまざまな職業につき社会に参加していることが解りました。欧米からの参加者は、障害のある人びとを取り巻く日本の状況を、彼らの社会からみて少なくとも30年から50年は遅れていると言いました。日本選手の解団式では、人間賛歌の素晴らしい世界大会にでられた歓びの反面、明日からまた全く希望のない生活に戻ることを想い、皆泣いていました。私は、彼我の社会的に大きなギャップと日本人の惨めな状況に愕然としたのです。パラリンピックの選手たちの就職支援をボランテｲアグループで取り組みながら、私は卒業論文で「障害と生産性」をテーマにして、雇用されない障害のある人々の働く状況を調べました。箱根の傷痍軍人の授産場、東京・神奈川の数少ない授産施設での内職仕事では人々は暗い表情で働いていました。東京コロニーでは、国鉄払い下げの客車を区切って住み、病院の残飯を食べ、ベッドの上でガリ版印刷をしながら職場を自分たちの力で作ろうとしている調一興さんたち結核回復者の姿に特に衝撃を受けました。さらに、欧米からの選手の実際の職場を訪ねることが出来、リハビリテーションと雇用施策の違いと、ともに生きる社会環境をつくることや、根本的な障害に関する考え方を知るのです。特に、一般雇用されることの困難な重い障害のある人々の多くが、米国グッドウィルインダストリイーやアビリティーズで楽しく働く姿を見、ヨーロッパの選手の多くが英国のレンプロイのような、特別支援の雇用政策の下で働いているのを知り勇気づけられました。日本の遅れは絶望的に思えましたが、他面、欧米で進められたことは日本でも実現できるはずだとも考えました。パラリンピックの団長であった中村裕先生に、欧米での状況を報告し、内職や零細作業所でなく近代的な工場を作るべきと提言し、後の‘太陽の家’の建設募金運動に参加しました。“家”と当時の障害のある人への想いから水上勉さんがつけたのですが、英文名はJapan Sun “Industries”としたのです。　卒業後、工場計画や品質管理、動作研究を勉強したことが役立つかも知れないとも思い、九州別府に飛び込んでゆきました、無我夢中であったようです。竹細工から始めながら、三年目にシャープに部品納入を実現できたときは大歓声を上げました。現在の太陽の家は、伊方博義さんのような優れた実務家や全国から集まった障害のある人の頑張りにより、他には類のない、オムロン、ソニー、ホンダ、三菱商事、デンソー、富士通などの大企業と提携した1100人を超える障害のある人の雇用就労を継続しています。東京パラリンピックから43年がたちますが、私は、調一興、小川孟、板山賢治さんなどの先輩である良き師に指導をうけ、頼もしい仲間を全国にまた世界各国に得て、職業リハビリテーションと雇用就労の促進、福祉工場の経営と多様な就労方式の開発、環境改善運動、障害者施策の促進、アジアの働く場づくりと人材養成などに係わる機会を与えられました。本日一緒に受賞するという嬉しいことになった山田昭義さんとも生活圏拡大運動からの古いお付き合いです。特に国内の多くの障害関係団体の活動をつなぐ役、国際的な協力すすめる役割を少しは果たせたのではないかと思っております。障害のある人々との運動体験を基本にして、国際障害者年のPR担当、福祉専門官として様々な施策の提案ができたことも大きな歓びでした。この間に確かに多くの前進がありました。　私が係わることが出来た、情報提供などを通しての障害問題の理解促進、政治的関心の喚起、当事者運動との調整などの成果として、基礎年金制度・特別障害者手当が創設され、障害のある人々の所得保障が改善され、多くの障害のある人々の生活が一変したことは大きな喜びでした。ともに生きるということにむけて、日本社会が必要な費用を国民全体が負担することを了承した大きな前進だと誇りに思ったものです。アジアへの日本の具体的貢献ができたとも思いました。これらを徹底して、もう一歩を進める事が出来れば解決できそうだと期待がもてました。国連は障害問題のテーマを｢完全参加と平等｣から｢総ての人の社会｣へと進めましたが、50年の遅れは縮まったのではと思えたのです。しかし、障害問題が社会全体をよくすることの基本であるとの共生社会への理解は、財政危機にともなう社会保障削減の動きのなかで進展がとまりました。今や逆行しているとさえ思えます。社会保障全体の論議に、最も生活に困難を抱える人々の問題への取り組みが回避されています。共生社会の根本が決断されていません。重度障害のある人々が当たり前の社会生活が出来るところに目標をおけば、総ての人の利益につながることを、社会の総ての分野が根本的に理解することをもう一度努力できればと願うものです。障害基礎年金を誕生させた国民全体の動きを再現したいのです。雇用に関しても、本当に職業的に障害のある人々、生産性低い人々は、福祉施策の対象とされ雇用政策から排除されたままです。このことは50年以上も前にILOが勧告をしていることなのです。この度行ったILOへの申し立ては、企業、労働組合、社会福祉事業者、そして政府など社会全体への問題提起です。これ以上見過ごしてはなりません。余命は短いのですが、問題解決への協力体制づくりの働きかけを続けて、次に引継いで貰いたいと存じます。今回の受賞は小倉さんが最後までしっかりやれとハッパをかけてくださったのでありましょう。皆様に心から御礼申し上げます、本当にありがとうございました。