On March 18, 1964, volunteers with the Japanese Red Cross Society formed an official translation team under the leadership of a woman named Sachiko Hashimoto, former national director of the Japanese Junior Red Cross. Comprising mostly college students, the team was created to provide language services for athletes competing in the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics. Despite their best efforts to serve as a bridge between multiple cultures, traditions and backgrounds of the Paralympians, however, the interpreters could not persuade the Japanese athletes to mingle with them. Prejudice, misconceptions and low social recognition of people with disabilities at the time, it seems, presented a barrier too tall for them to overcome. Now the former translators, including Akiko Wakai, Mutsuko Inada and Akiko Gono, are speaking about their experiences during the opening of an exhibit at the Japanese Red Cross Society in August. 📸: @ryuseitakahashi217
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Alo Japan.