Day 2: Visits
The participants were divided into the following four groups and briefed by experts onrelevant issues. They also visited companies and organizations that address those issues andobserved their programs and activities.
Group A1: Aging society with a low birth rate and elderly care
○ Women journalists who participated in the program
Japanese participants (3), international participants (7)○ ProgramMorning: Visit to Kotoen, a childcare and elderly care facility
Afternoon: Visit to the National Institute of Population and Social Security ResearchGroup B: Sports and women's health○ Women journalists who participated in the program
Japanese participants (4), international participants (3)○ ProgramMorning: Visit to the Japanese Center for Research on Women in Sport
Afternoon: Visit to the Japan High Performance Sport Center
Group C: Barrier-free society○ Women journalists who participated in the program
Japanese participants (3), international participants (6)○ ProgramMorning: Lecture by Ms. OBINATA Kuniko, Senior Consultant of Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
Afternoon: Visit to the Kawasaki factory of Nihon Rikagaku Industry Co., Ltd.
Group D: Disaster prevention and rehabilitation○ Women journalists who participated in the program
Japanese participants (3), international participants (4)○ ProgramMorning: Lecture by Ms. ASANO Sachiko, Co-representative of the Training Center for Gender& Disaster Risk Reduction
Afternoon: Visit to the Honjo Life Safety Learning Center of the Tokyo Fire Department

1Unlike the other groups, Group A visited in the morning an organization that addresses an issue, and, inthe afternoon, an institution that is knowledgeable about the same issue.

19Group A: Declining birthrate and aging population, and elderly care
Japan’s population and birthrate declines are among the fastest in the world, and thecountry must address these issues urgently. Group A visited a nursing home that uses anadvanced approach and a research institute that investigates issues on aging society anddeclining birthrate.
○ Kotoen (Mr. INOUE Tomokazu, Director, Community Program Division)“Intergenerational programs for aging society”
Summary: It is a nursing home for people aged 65 orabove who find it hard to live in their own home. Kotoen
provides meals, physical therapy and rehabilitation, as well
as necessary support and consultation services for dailyliving. There is also a nursery school in Kotoen that allows
children and senior citizens to interact daily. They sharehappiness and sometimes sadness through strengthening
relationships among different generations. In the recent
increase of nuclear families, children learn social diversity

Participants talking to theresidents of Kotoen

by sensing the presence of senior citizens in their daily lives.
○ National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS)(Mr. KOREKAWA Yu, Senior Researcher, Department of Population Dynamics Research;
Ms. WATANABE Kuriko, Researcher, Department of Research Planning and Coordination;
Mr. KOJIMA Katsuhisa, Director, Department of Information Collection and Analysis;
Ms. KOYAMA Yasuyo, Senior Researcher, Department of Population Structure Research)
Themes: “Overview of the Official Population Projection ofJapan; toward 2065”“Social Security and Poverty in Japan”“Japan Long-term Care System”“Recent Changes in Family and Care for the
Elderly in Japan”
Summary: Attached to the Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare, it is a national research center that investigates
population and household trends and implements researchParticipants listening to the lecture

on social security policies and systems in Japan and abroad. The lecturers explained the trend
and analysis of aging society and birthrate/population declines, changes in social security cost
and workforce, and poverty among senior citizens.
○ Participants comments and opinions:▶ Having learned about a nursing home like Kotoen makes me a bit optimistic about Japan’s
super aging society. (Japan/ TV station)▶ The number of non-Japanese care workers is likely to increase because of the Japanese20

government’s new initiatives. (Japan/ TV station)▶ The intergenerational facility can be used as a good example of an elderly care facility in
Asia Pacific. (Republic of Korea / Newspaper)▶ Countries in Asia Pacific will move toward an aging society, but my country has taken nomeasures to address it. (Thailand/ TV station)▶ Japan is creating an ingenious care method of using robots and others to compensate forthe lack of young care workers. (Australia/ Newspaper)Group B: Sports and women s healthFemale athletes were allowed to participate in the Olympics only from the second game in1900. Since then, the number of female athletes has increased but the environment for
professional female athletes remains far behind the one for male athletes. Support is needed
through understanding women’s health and provision of accurate knowledge.
○ Japanese Center for Research on Women in Sport (JCRWS), Juntendo University,(Ms. OGASAWARA Etsuko, Ph.D., Executive Director, Japanese Center for Research on
Women in Sport)“Female Athletes Lifelong Strategy in Japan”
Summary: Female athletes have specific issues as awoman in different stages: introductory stage of starting
the sport; development stage during secondary sexual
characteristics; maturity stage when both body and mind
mature; after reaching maturity, and second career stage
after retiring from the sport. By establishing a strategic
support system, the Center helps female athletes improvetheir performance in international competitions and increase

Lecture by Ms. Ogasawara

the total medal count.
○ Japan Institute of Sport Science (JISS) (Ms. MATSUI Yoko, Deputy Division
Manager, Japan Sport Council)“Strategic Support Program for Female Athletes”
Summary: JSC makes use of the sports medical andscientific functions of JISS to support and strengthen
various

aspectsoffemale

athletes

andcapacity

development of coaches such as supporting illnesses ordisabilities specific to women. Participants also visited ahigh-performance gym in JISS that uses advanced scientifictraining method.

21Lecture by Ms. Matsui

○ Participants comments and opinions:▶ I have never known until I listened to Ms. Matsui’s lecture that the Olympic Agenda 2020
includes promotion of gender equality. I was astounded that this is not reported in theJapanese media. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ Until now, I have never known about promotion of women’s empowerment in sports. Thisis probably because the media had never reported on the issue of sports from such aperspective. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ I learned how female athletes lose weight in an unhealthy way when aiming for a medal
in competitions. It is very tough for athletes to play sports in such a way. (Japan/Newspaper)▶ Japan has many wonderful female athletes. However, it is astonishing that initiatives for
the Olympic Agenda 2020 are not well known in Japan. (India/ Newspaper)▶ I learned that there is a network in Japan where former athletes discuss and pass on theirexperiences to young athletes. This is a cost-efficient and effective method. (India/Newspaper)▶ It is interesting that Japan has initiatives to support female athletes while the world ofsport is conservative regarding gender equality. (New Zealand/ Newspaper)Group C: Barrier-free society
Persons with disabilities are becoming more active and gaining attention in Japan. This isdue to the coming Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Japanese society getting more diversified, and thediversity concept gaining more acceptance. Group C deepened understanding on Japan’sbarrier-free society through a lecture by a former Paralympic athlete and a field visit to acompany that is a pioneer in employing persons with intellectual disabilities.
○ Ms. OBINATA Kuniko (Project Manager, Business Integration Department, Dentsu
Public Relations)“Efforts toward barrier-free society--Taking the opportunityof the Tokyo 2020 Games”
Summary: Ms. Obinata, a former winter Paralympic gold
medalist, works at a PR company to prepare for theupcoming

Tokyo2020Paralympics.

The

historyofparasports in Japan began with the 1964 Paralympics inTokyo. Having gained recognition in the 1998 Paralympics
in Nagano, it is now attracting much interest due to theupcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Keyed to the sloganLecture by Ms. Obinata“diversity and harmony,” the Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics are expected to promote “barrierfree” minds by affirming our differences and recognizing each other.

22

○ Nihon Rikagaku Industry Co., Ltd. (Mr. OYAMA Takahisa, Company president)“Historyofinitiatives

onemploying

personswithdisabilities and a field visit to the factory”
Summary:

NihonRikagaku

IndustryCo.,

Ltd.

manufactures chalks and markers. The company has
employed persons with disabilities for over 60 years; over70% of its employees are intellectually disabled. Suchemployees are in the frontline of product manufacturing,and the company strives to improve the working process
and methods to maximize their working performance.

松井氏による講義の様子
Site visit at the factory

Participants had a lecture on the history of company
initiatives on employing persons with disabilities and then took a factory tour.
○ Participants comments and opinions:▶ The number of sponsored companies rose towards the 1998 games in Nagano. However,
the interest quickly declined after the games ended. Therefore, it is necessary to find acreative way to maintain the attention on Paralympics and persons with disabilities after
the Tokyo 2020 games. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ It was impressive that the company strives to improve the working methods and theworking environment so that employees can demonstrate their ability despite theirintellectual disabilities. (Malaysia/ Newspaper)▶ Only a few female employees worked in the factory. I would like to pay more attention in
the future regarding employment of women with disabilities. (India/ Newspaper)▶ The salary of disabled employees starts from a minimum wage. This may not be sufficient,
but it is wonderful that there is at least an opportunity to work as the number of companies
that employ persons with disabilities is limited in Japan. (Japan/TV station)

Group D: Disaster prevention and rehabilitation
Japan, a natural-disaster-prone country, suffers considerable damage from earthquakes,
large-scale typhoons and torrential rains. Do all natural disasters affect everyone in the same
way? In the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the female death toll was much higher than themale one; in the Great East Japan Earthquake, the death toll of persons with disabilities wasdouble the one of non-disabled persons. Japan has advanced disaster prevention measures ininfrastructure, but faces many challenges for steps to help vulnerable groups such as women.
○ Lecture by Ms. ASANO Sachiko (Co-representative, Training Center for Gender &Disaster Risk Reduction)“Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan”

23Summary: Natural disasters do not affect everyone in thesame way. The scale and extent of damage depends ongender, age or disabilities. This is not because vulnerable
groups or women are vulnerable to disaster, but forinadequate consideration to those with diverse or specificneeds or lack of participation of diverse groups in disasterprevention systems.
Lecture by Ms. Asano○ Life Safety Learning Center, Tokyo Fire Department (Site visit and simulations)
Summary: It is an educational facility that lets visitors learn
and think about damages caused by past disasters anddisaster prevention measures in Japan through a guided
experience-based tour. For example, visitors can experiencean earthquake just like the real thing, an urban flooding in

松井氏による講義の様子

which people may face difficulties getting out of a flooded
car or opening an underground door owing to waterpressure, dangers of smoke during a fire, or a windstorm.

Visitors experience a windstorm○ Participants comments and opinions:▶ People of Japan think that a disaster can hit anyone at any time. This facility helps educate
the public on disaster prevention measures, which is a good thing. (Indonesia/ Newspaper)▶ I was surprised that disaster prevention measures do not address women and minorities
although Japan is a leading nation in disaster risk reduction. Japan needs to have more
women take part in disaster prevention and rehabilitation measures. (Republic of Korea /Newspaper)▶ I want to inform the reader of the importance of increasing women’s participation incommunities during disaster relief activities; necessary support will not reach themarginalized unless this is addressed. The challenge is to build a system to encourage
women’s participation while involving men. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ One should report regularly such matters as difficulties women face or the importance ofwomen’s role in a disaster. (Japan/ TV station)24