Part II Measures Taken for Persons with Disabilities (Focused on FY2004)
Section 5. Promoting the Base for Comfortable Living Environments
With regard to measures for facilitating comfortable living environments for persons with disabilities, physically accessible environment such as public housing accommodates to persons with disabilities, government facilities and buildings for public use, public transport, and pedestrian space should be created. In addition, specific measures are promoted for vulnerable persons including persons with disabilities who are in need of assistance in case of disaster in various situations, through disseminating knowledge of preventing disaster, providing disaster information, and instructing emergency evacuation. Furthermore, measures for preventing crime, which give due consideration to persons with disabilities, are promoted.
With regard to measures for facilitating persons with disabilities to lead their life in safety, R&D and diffusion of equipment and system are promoted taking into account of disability, and accessible information becomes widely available by accessible websites to persons with disabilities. In addition, provision of information through establishing information networks, creating video programs with captions, and increasing TV programs with closed-captions are promoted.
[Principal measures taken]
(1) In October 2004, the "Basic Policy for Promotion of Facilitating Mobility" was amended to encourage municipal governments to take into account of new concept. The new concept is to count the consolidating measures for accessible environment including buildings in intensive development area when municipal governments make a basic plan of certain areas that have facilities for transportation such as train station as the core facility.
(2) In order to facilitate accessibility of vessels operating on remote island routes, government subsidy has been provided for part of the construction fee related to accessibility in building an alternative vessel or renovating the vessel in case the vessel operates on a route subject to government subsidy, since fiscal 2004.
(3) The accessibility maps of entire Koganei City for residential area, and Higashiyama, Kyoto for tourism venues were on the website. In addition, accessibility maps are created for underground shopping arcade and ground level around Tokyo Station for large scale of underground shopping arcade by using a 3D geographical information system.
(4) On 3 March 2005, "Working Group for Distribution of Information and Evacuation Support for the Elderly in the situation of Torrential Rainstorms" disseminated a report including recommendation for creation of "information advising evacuation preparation (evacuation of persons who need assistance)" and development of information distribution framework in municipal governments.
(5) An audio book rental service via Internet was implemented through "DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) contents delivery project by the broadband network (Biblionet)."
(6) In regular election for the House of Councilors in 2004, the number of postal and other voting certificates issued was 61,010, increasing by 9,662 over the previous election (2001). Among 36,205 voters (local constituencies) in total, 1,650 persons voted by representative voting system.
(2) In order to facilitate accessibility of vessels operating on remote island routes, government subsidy has been provided for part of the construction fee related to accessibility in building an alternative vessel or renovating the vessel in case the vessel operates on a route subject to government subsidy, since fiscal 2004.
(3) The accessibility maps of entire Koganei City for residential area, and Higashiyama, Kyoto for tourism venues were on the website. In addition, accessibility maps are created for underground shopping arcade and ground level around Tokyo Station for large scale of underground shopping arcade by using a 3D geographical information system.
(4) On 3 March 2005, "Working Group for Distribution of Information and Evacuation Support for the Elderly in the situation of Torrential Rainstorms" disseminated a report including recommendation for creation of "information advising evacuation preparation (evacuation of persons who need assistance)" and development of information distribution framework in municipal governments.
(5) An audio book rental service via Internet was implemented through "DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) contents delivery project by the broadband network (Biblionet)."
(6) In regular election for the House of Councilors in 2004, the number of postal and other voting certificates issued was 61,010, increasing by 9,662 over the previous election (2001). Among 36,205 voters (local constituencies) in total, 1,650 persons voted by representative voting system.
