JAPAN LEADER’S REMARK STIRS ACCESSIBILITY CONTROVERSY

The issue of historic preservation versus accessibility has been brought to the forefront by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling installation of elevators in the historic Osaka Castle a “big mistake,” Kyodo News reports. Abe made the remark during a June 28 dinner that was part of the Group of 20 world leader summit in Osaka, Japan. Disability-rights advocates and political foes blasted Abe’s remark, especially in light of Japan hosting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next year. Others defended it, pointing out elevators would be the only difference between the restored wooden landmark, constructed in 1583, and the original. The mayor of Nagoya, where the castle is situated, wants to restore the structure without elevators, but a local group representing handicapped people submitted roughly 13,600 signatures calling for a reversal of that plan.