Kyodo News

More than 80 percent of the respondents to a government survey said there is discrimination against physically and mentally impaired people in Japan, the Cabinet Office said Saturday.

However, 57 percent said they have seen some improvement in the past five years.

The Cabinet Office sent questionnaires to 3,000 people across the country in February and received answers from 60.5 percent.

Almost 83 percent of the respondents said discrimination and prejudice exist, compared with 15.1 percent who see no discrimination.

While 57.2 percent said discrimination has decreased in the past five years, 35.3 percent said they have noticed no improvement.

Laws related to disabled people were revised in May 2004 to state principles of eliminating discrimination against the handicapped. However, unfair perceptions toward disabled people persist, Cabinet Office officials said.

According to the survey, 33.4 percent of the respondents said they have relatives who are disabled, up from 21.0 percent in a similar survey in 2005.

The increase indicates "the concept of handicapped has been broadening as the society is rapidly going gray," an official said, implying an increase in the number of elderly people suffering from dementia and other physical and mental impediments.

The Japan Times: Sunday, April 8, 2007
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