Creating a Society Where Everyone Can Live Comfortably: Exchange of Ideas, Mini Concerts Held at the 1st Colorful Festival in Naha City, Okinawa

Public date: 05:00, September 16, 2024 Update date: 10:13, September 16, 2024

The first Colorful Festa (sponsored by the Executive Committee) was held on the 15th at the Naha Cultural Arts Theater Nahato with the theme of “The Shape of an Inclusive Future Sensed and Created by Children.” There was a mini concert by the Colorful Chorus Okinawa, a choir made up of a diverse range of children, regardless of whether they have disabilities or not, and a symposium, where participants learned about the importance of deepening their understanding and taking action to realize a society where everyone can live comfortably.

The Colorful Chorus is a choir that changed its name from “White Hand Chorus Okinawa” in August this year and is composed of a “sign section” (sign singing) that sings with sign language and facial expressions, and a “vocal section” that sings with voices. At the festival, they performed seven songs, including “Tsuki Nu Kaisha” and “Tin Sagunu Hana,” using their whole bodies. The audience cheered, laughed, and clapped throughout the performance.

The symposium featured speakers Takara Chieko, head teacher of the hearing impaired class at Asha Elementary School, comedian Oya Ayumi, and Oyakawa Osamu, chairman of the NPO Barrier-Free Network Conference, who exchanged opinions on measures to create a society where everyone can live comfortably.

Takara, who became the homeroom teacher of a class for the hearing impaired for the first time in 2019, said, “The starting point is for students to get to know themselves and to get to know others.”

Oya, who was raised by hearing-impaired parents, reflected on her childhood and the process of founding the sign language comedy troupe “Gekidan Allamanda.” She said, “There are a lot of possibilities. Don’t just keep it to yourself, use all five senses to communicate with those around you. There will always be someone who will listen.”

Oyakogawa, who opened a tourist information center for disabled and elderly people at Naha Airport with the aim of achieving “true barrier-free” travel, said, “First of all, it is important to understand that there are people with disabilities, and we need to create a social environment that allows such people to go outside.”

Author: Kenichi Yoshida