Tokyo holds meeting for paralympics, barrier-free society

June 10, 2019

Tokyo--The Tokyo metropolitan government held Monday a conference for the success of the 2020 Paralympic Games and further efforts to create a barrier-free society.

Participants in the first meeting of the conference included scholars, Paralympic athletes, kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo XI and comedian Kinichi Hagimoto.

They discussed how to communicate the appeal of Paralympic events better and realize a society of coexistence friendly to people with disabilities and the elderly.

"We hope to make a success of the Paralympics and leave a legacy by making our society an easier place for anyone to live," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who chairs the conference, said at the opening of the meeting.

Ebizo said he hears Japan lags behind other Asian countries in terms of barrier-free access, calling for improvements to related infrastructure.

Participants stressed the importance of eradicating prejudice and discrimination against the disabled. Jiji Press