Independent Living Movement for Disabled People in Osaka: Focusing on the Osaka Green Grass Association in the 1970s

SADATO Kuniko
Abstract:
The independent living movement for disabled people in America started in the 1960s and created the idea of living independently with the help of caregivers. The concept that living on one's own with the assistance of others constitutes independence was a departure from the generally accepted idea that independent life is marked by complete self-sufficiency in money, work and daily activities. This new definition of independence made it possible for severely disabled people to live independent lives.

The independent living movement in Japan arose in the early 1970s through the Kanagawa Green Grass Association, which struggled with issues such as murders by family members of children born with disabilities, the isolation of disabled people in institutions, and the lack of provisions for barrier-free-transport and living facilities. The movement consequently spread throughout Japan.

This paper focuses on the case of the Osaka Green Grass Association founded in 1973 to explain how the members established the association and developed an independent living movement which led to independent living by severely disabled people who left institutions and their families, houses and started to live by themselves with the help of other people's care.


Keywords: Independent living movement, the 1970s, Osaka Green Grass Association, Severely disabled people, Caregiver