Educated, Employed, Useful​—And Blind!

By Awake! correspondent in Japan

ON ANY workday morning you can see Susumu briskly walking along the narrow lanes that cut through peach and grape orchards in this pleasant Japanese country town. His destination is the train station. And though his wife could drive him, he prefers, as he says, “to walk for the exercise.” As we observe him he looks much like any other commuter intent on getting to work on time. But there is a difference​—he is almost totally blind! He has had to overcome many challenges in order to arrive at the point where he can not only handle a job competently but also get to work unassisted.

For some years a large city hospital has employed Susumu as a masseur and acupuncture therapist in its physical rehabilitation center. He is respected by both the medical staff and the patients for his skill and expertise. Yet, his case isn’t rare or unusual. For centuries the blind of Japan have almost exclusively administered the ancient healing arts of the East: acupuncture, Oriental massage and moxibustion.a In fact, until recently these occupations were nationally protected to guarantee a livelihood for the blind. How did this come to be? What kind of training do such ones receive? Susumu’s story and a little background on the blind in Japan should give you some interesting and satisfying answers.

An Old Tradition

Traditionally, Japan and its people have had deep regard for and a caring attitude toward the handicapped. The most ancient of records on this subject tell of the efforts individuals and communities made to provide the sightless with the comforts and necessities of life.

For example, as far back as the seventh century, serious attempts were made at providing vocations for the blind. Some blind people were successfully trained as musicians. From then on, the lot of the blind progressively improved. And by the 15th century the “Golden Age” of the blind had arrived. At that time a tightly knit community for their mutual protection and vocational training existed in Kyoto. It was here that acupuncture, massage and moxibustion were introduced into their training program and began to eclipse music as the most popular profession among the sightless. But regardless of the profession the aspirant chose, the rigorous training at the Kyoto compound assured a financially secure life for many. There were, of course, drawbacks to this arrangement. It could not deal with the needs of all the handicapped in a fair and equal way. Nevertheless, a segment of the blind were given a dignified standing in the community for hundreds of years.

The late 1800’s saw Japan in a time of social and political reform. Programs for the poor and the physically handicapped were instituted on a national scale. However, in many ways this turned out to be a period of confusion and hardship for the blind community, as all former concessions and privileges were revoked. In time, however, the void was filled as government schools for the blind were established. And now all the new schools were free.

More recently, Japan has kept pace with other countries in seeing that its blind population has up-to-date equipment and facilities. In 1965 the first Lighthouse for the Blind Rehabilitation Center was established by the Helen Keller foundation in Osaka. This international nonprofit organization has done much to advance the practical training of the blind and the near blind. Especially so in the cases of those who, like Susumu, lose their sight later in life. Let’s now consider his experience.

“I Just Sat Home All the Time”

Thus Susumu describes his despair at finding himself not only sightless but unable to work or care for himself. He was only 23 years old. Self-pity set in until one afternoon when he heard a radio announcement about training programs for the blind. This aroused his interest and began to shake him out of his depression.

Soon he was enrolled in classes that taught three things vital to his independently caring for himself: (1) Mobility orientation, which included using a cane, a guide dog or the sight-through-sonar program, (2) involvement in activities of daily life, such as food preparation and homelife orientation and (3) communication, mainly aimed at teaching Braille reading and the use of the Brailler, a typewriterlike machine.

Here, too, Susumu found the opportunity to learn a new profession​—the real key to full rehabilitation. After considering several possibilities, he chose to go into the field of acupuncture and massage therapy. The training, he learned, includes much more than just learning technique or body manipulation. An intensive, medically sound course of instruction is given. Among other things, anatomy, physiology, hygiene, pathology, medical law and theories of Oriental physical therapy are studied. Consider, too, that acupuncture and moxibustion therapy are considered in Japan to be very exacting sciences. Experts in these fields are esteemed as ‘masters of anatomy.’ How, then, is a blind person able to learn these arts? Good training, coupled with a blind person’s seemingly heightened sense of touch, make trainees like Susumu proficient at this kind of work. Nevertheless, the full course took him and his classmates (ranging in age from 18 to 50) three years to complete. Most of the students had become blind after reaching adulthood, which meant they had not only to learn these intricate skills but also to relearn the most basic tasks of daily life.

The difficulties encountered are illustrated by the fact that at first it took some of them an hour or more to read just one page of Braille. The Japanese Braille system is quite involved. A Braille cell is made up of six dots. But the Japanese language has to be written in sounds rather than in letters. Two six-dot cells are required for over two thirds of the sounds. This is necessary in order to form the numerous vowel-consonant combinations of the Japanese language. While mastering this new style of reading could at times be discouraging, one student said, “We overcame our problems with hard work and mutual encouragement.”

This same student, by the way, makes this interesting recommendation: People who become blind should take advantage of available programs and educational facilities so as to bring themselves back to an active life as quickly as possible. This is wise advice. Blind children especially benefit from such training. It is a moving experience, indeed, to come upon third and fourth grade sightless students, pounding away on the Brailler with the ease and assurance of experienced typists. But what further training is available in Japan for those born blind or who were blinded as children?

Practical Schooling

One school for the blind, which started a little over a hundred years ago, has grown into a network of well-run and well-equipped public schools throughout Japan. In one school the ratio is one teacher for every two pupils. This naturally provides a warm and personalized atmosphere for learning. All grades are generally included on the same campus, and the curriculum is much like that of any other school​—emphasizing reading, writing and arithmetic. But early on, from the first year of junior high school, special emphasis is placed on vocational training​—especially massage treatment. It is estimated that about 75 percent of the graduates find employment in some capacity as physical therapists. And over half open small massage and acupuncture clinics, mostly in their own home.

Many young people, however, are branching out to job training in other areas, such as operating telephone switchboards and industrial machinery, computer programming and other related skills. Others go on to college with the hope of taking up careers in teaching, civil service and law. It seems, however, that the hardworking blind masseurs will still have plenty to do. As Susumu expressed it: “I have a profession and can make a living for my family and feel a part of society again. For that I’m very thankful.”

A few years ago Susumu found something else that brought him even more happiness. He says: “I realized that my effort to bring ease from pain and comfort to ailing bodies was only temporary. So you can imagine my joy when I first read the prophecy recorded in the Bible at Isaiah 35:5, 6, which says, ‘the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped . . . the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness.’ From my study of the Bible I realized that lasting healing will come only when the earth is made a Paradise again by the real master of anatomy, our Creator, Jehovah God.”

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 17]

The blind were given a dignified standing in the community

[Blurb on page 19]

Imagine my joy when I first read the prophecy recorded in the Bible book of Isaiah 35:5, 6 that says, “The eyes of the blind ones will be opened”

[Pictures on page 18]

With good training and their heightened sense of touch, the blind become proficient at acupuncture

It is a moving experience to see young sightless students working on the Brailler