Independent living and disability advocacy from Japan to NZ with Umi Asaka

A Japanese mother and daughter both using wheelchairs. They sit in front of a New Year's Concert stage in the city centre.
Yuho and Umi at a concert in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Photo/supplied

Welcome to Disability Crosses Borders, a podcast and blog featuring stories where disability, migration and culture meet. I’m your host Áine Kelly-costello and today I talk to disability researcher and advocate Umi Asaka. We explore disability advocacy, especially the independent living movement, in Japan and New Zealand. And Umi tells us about the roots and legacy of her mother’s advocacy.

Content warning: 10:04-11:03; discussion of consequences of the murder of a disabled child; 18:30-21.47: discussion of familial disability shame in the wake of the Sagamihara stabbings (intentional murders of disabled people)

Follow Umi on Twitter; @asakaocean.

Transcript: Independent living and disability advocacy from Japan to NZ with Umi Asaka

Read the transcript.

By Áine Kelly-Costello

Blind freelance writer/journalist and campaigner from aotearoa NZ.