By Taro Fujimoto/Japan Today

Out of Japan’s population of 127 million, including foreigners, about 3.6 million have physical disabilities, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Over the past few years, the government has enacted several laws to facilitate the daily lives of disabled people and realize a so-called “barrier-free society.”

“Many organizations for disabled people sometimes just complain to me about how tough things are for their members. My first reaction used to be ‘so what?’ as I listened to their claims. Now, I always try to find a solution to such complaints,” says Makoto Nakazawa, 48, president of Barrier-Free Company in Tokyo. Nakazawa, who was born with a muscular disease, has been in a wheelchair all his life. He is a leading consultant in universal and barrier-free designs in Japan.

“…what is important in society is not always barrier-free facilities or hardware…but a better effort in people’s hearts to understand disabled people.”

Nakazawa says society is now starting to pay more attention to the diversity of people’s needs. “Up until now, the dominant idea has been that in a mass production society, products and services are for ‘Mr Average,’ which of course meant people with no disabilities. Everyone else had to adjust themselves to the idea. The situation is changing now and it has become more common for businesses to offer a lot more choices.”

Nakazawa, who worked for industrial machinery company Kubota Corp for 15 years, launched Barrier-Free Co in 2001 as a consultant to the private sector on how to incorporate barrier-free designs in products, the workplace and buildings in general. He also offered training to companies’ employees on how to deal with disabled people and the elderly. He says he launched Barrier-Free as a privately listed company, rather than a non-profit organization, so that many people could be involved in barrier-free issues as a business.

Nakazawa said he first got interested in barrier-free issues during his first overseas trip to the United States in the late 1980s. “When I arrived in the U.S., I didn’t feel that I was a disabled person because everybody there spoke to me and offered me assistance in a natural manner,” he recalls. “I thought ‘disabilities’ were just another part of the diversified society in the U.S. In Japan, people would just stare at me. I think the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) has been very effective in American society in terms of communication with the disabled. It got me thinking that I could something in Japan to remove barriers in our daily lives.”

After he returned to Japan, Nakazawa started doing volunteer work for the Japanese Red Cross and created a new edition of its “Accessible Tokyo” English guidebook with information on barrier-free facilities in Tokyo, such as hotels and department stores. He was responsible for creating the Japanese-English bilingual version, which became the first step in his consulting career.

As soon as he launched Barrier Free, many companies started asking Nakazawa for advice on how to implement universal and barrier-free designs in their services, products and facilities. Nakazawa says, “Companies told me that different organizations for the disabled were always requesting them to do different things. For example, those texture paving blocks may be good for the visually-impaired but they are not so useful for those wheelchairs in some situations.”

Nakazawa says he cannot represent every organization for disabled people; instead, his goal is to help more disabled people function with everyone else on a daily basis. “In Japan, while disabled children are encouraged to study at special schools rather than at normal schools, after they finish school, they are suddenly expected to live in society with non-disabled people without special consideration once they become adults.”

Nakazawa thinks one of the problems in Japanese society is the lack of communication between disabled and normal people. “They really don’t know each other. For example, most people tend to think that all hearing-challenged people can understand sign language. But actually, only 15% of them can. In addition, only 10% of visually-challenged people can read Braille.”

Not afraid to act, in 2007, Nakazawa sued Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward and the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR) over the substandard barrier-free passage from a station to his apartment. “City officials who are in charge of the barrier-free policy know very little about the problems. I tried to advise them to repair the passageway but they ignored me. What they built was just a waste of tax money.” The case is ongoing.

However, Nakazawa believes that what is important in society is not always barrier-free facilities or hardware, as he calls it, but a better effort in people’s hearts to understand disabled people. “Japanese tend to build something first and make it look plausible without actually understanding whether there is ‘heart’ to it.”

Nakazawa says Japanese people still need someone to help them consider the needs of disabled people and encourage them to take action. “That’s my role, I think,” he says, adding that he sees his barrier-free consultancy as a sustainable business rather than just charity. “I’m not talking only about disabled people but the elderly, as well. Companies are now aware that their services and products have to cater to the needs of an aging society.”

For further information on Barrier-Free Company, visit: www.barrier-free-jp.com/
（This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today）

By Taro Fujimoto/Japan Today

One fair trade organization which has been focusing on the poor in developing countries is People Tree which was established in Japan.Heading up People Tree and its parent NGO, Global Village, is founder and chief executive Safia Minney. Born to an Indian Mauritian father and Swiss mother in London, she started her career in publishing when she was 17. After working in publishing and launching her own alternative marketing consultancy in London afterwards, she came to Japan with her British husband who worked for a Japanese bank at the time and now works for People Tree full time. She worked for publisher PHP as well as for Simul Academy, which trains professional interpreters.

In 1991, Minney launched a non-governmental organization for the environment and social justice, Global Village. It began with a simple pamphlet about environmental information and Fair Trade products. People Tree currently runs two flagship stores in Tokyo and supplies 350 stockists all over Japan as well as 130 stockists in the UK and Europe. It has 40 full-time staff in Japan and 25 in the UK. The company has steadily increased its sales from 34 million yen in 1995 to 1,023,600,000 yen (Japan and UK together) in 2007.

What is People Tree’s concept of Fair Trade?

People Tree is a “social business,” a hybrid between conventional business and a charity. Looking at how we can maximize the benefits to disadvantaged people in the developing world, we have three principles as a business tool: to generate incomes for the poor in the developing world, to protect the environment, and to advocate for change in the way conventional businesses work.

How did your Fair Trade business start in Japan?

When I came to Japan, I found there were many people who care about the environment. But at that time, there was very little information on environmental products. Since the language was the biggest barrier for me, I started researching and publishing environmental information about products and services in Japan by launching Global Village. At first, it was just one sheet of paper with environmental information and Fair Trade products imported from Britain. Then we started to make products suitable for the Japanese market together with designers.

Who makes Fair Trade products?

We have partnerships with 50 producers in 15 developing countries, who mainly are members of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT)

What kind of products do you sell?

About 50% of our products are fashion and accessories, 25% are food and 25% hand-made crafts, interiors and gifts.

Who are your customers?

Our customer base is very wide, mostly women aged between 25 and 40. I think green consumers in any developed country are mostly women who care more about the environment and social issues. They often start thinking about these issues when they have children. I think the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health And Sustainability) idea is also one of the factrors in Japan that has helped promote Fair Trade. We are attracting male customers too by designing more products for them.

What is the social situation of Fair Trade in Japan like?

The biggest challenge in Japan is raising awareness. In Britain, about 70% of the population can articulate what Fair Trade is, while it is less than 10% in Japan. Japanese people think and talk a lot about the issues but it takes more time to act. They should just act. I think there is still too little support for the Fair Trade movement by consumers, businesses and government compared to other developed countries.
People in Japan are highly educated, very curious and self-disciplined. There is a big appreciation for natural and hand-made materials and traditional skills in Japan, which I’m very pleased about. Japan can be a leader in green consumerism. So, I think there is still huge potential in Japan to promote Fair Trade.

How do you advertise your Fair Trade products?

Many fashion and women’s magazines now cover People Tree as an international leader in Fair Trade and Fair Trade fashion.

How does the recession impact your business?

Of course it does affect us. But organic agriculture uses no oil products. We are beginning to see farmers switch to organic to save money which is good for them, consumers and the planet. There is a growing macro-economic viewpoint. We should try to invest in organic and green energy to create a sustainable economic model. In times of recession, you need to look at social businesses that take a long-term view.

What do you think about conventional companies’ CSR activities?

I think more than 90% is just a façade and 10% of CSR activities are genuine at the moment.
However, things are changing. Conventional companies need to look at the real environmental and social costs of production. Conventional businesses do not cover the real social and human rights costs, often paying less than a living wage to adults or paying so little that only children will make the products they sell. Often, environmental laws are ignored as it is cheaper to produce products that pollute the environment. This is clearly not right.

What is the biggest issue now for People Tree?

Cash flow is always a big issue. As our business grows, local producers require 50% of payment in advance with their orders. Fortunately, we’ve received a lot of support from Japanese customers and the public who have subscribed to a private issue bond to support People Tree.

What are People Tree’s future prospects?

I would like to have more stores selling People Tree products throughout Japan because more consumers will be able to find and buy Fair Trade products.

What is your management style?

I’m a team player. I work alongside my team. I explain what the big picture is and solicit people’s ideas. We work very fast. Some people found it difficult to keep up. But we have to be innovative and work quickly with designers, media and customers to help small-scale producers access the market and there are many barriers that we face together that need to be overcome.

How do you spend your free time?

If I have free time, I hike in the mountains with my family and friends. I love nature. I also do yoga everyday and am constantly designing products and campaigns in my head – even in my free time.

For further information, visit: People Tree Japan or People Tree UK
（This article is provided by courtesy of Japan Today）