Japanese Sign Language - History

History

Little is known about sign language and the deaf community before the Edo period. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate dispatched envoys to various European schools for the deaf. The first school for the deaf was not established until 1878 in Kyōto.

It was not until 1948 that deaf children were required to attend school to receive a formal education.

In the second half of the 20th century, a subtle cultural change in views about the Deaf in Japan evolved. The long-standing concept that "deaf" only means "people who can't hear" emphasized a physical impairment as part of a biomedical disease model; however, this was gradually replaced by a slightly different paradigm. "Deaf people" were more often identified as "people who use Japanese sign language." In other words, the biomedical disability model began slowly to be displaced by a social-cultural or JSL paradigm.

The Japanese Federation of the Deaf has worked with slow success in efforts to enhance communication opportunities for Japanese whose primary language is JSL.

The changing status of JSL and the Deaf in Japan is a slow process; but there are highlights. For example, JSL has an advocate among the Imperial family. Kiko, Princess Akishino has studied JSL and is a trained sign language interpreter. She attends the "Sign Language Speech Contest for High School Students" held in every August, and "Praising Mothers Raising Children with Hearing Impairments" in every December. In October 2008, she participated in the "38th National Deaf Women's Conference." She also signs in informal Deaf gatherings.

In 2010, the Deaf community is organizing to support passage of the proposed "Sign Language Law."