The authors of this book are very happy and deeply honored to have it published in Korea. We would like to express our gratitude to our translator, Chong Hee Kyong, our publishing company, and everyone else who made this publication possible.
The first edition of this book was published in 1990 and the expanded edition was published in 1995. It includes an examination, description, and consideration of the disabled movement in Japan from the 1970s to 1995, with a particular emphasis on independent living and the independent living movement, and at the time it was published was the only book of its kind. Several books and journals on the disabled movement and by people supporting it had already been published, and we had read and been influenced by these texts, but there had been no mention of the disabled movement in, for example, books in the field of social welfare studies. One of our motivations in publishing this book was our dissatisfaction with this state of affairs and our belief that more people should be aware of these issues.
At that time the term "disability studies" did not exist. Osamu Nagase (now at the University of Tokyo) was studying at a graduate school in Holland when this book was published, and after ordering it and reading it overseas he visited one of its authors, Shinya Tateiwa, on his return to Japan. He then began plans for his own publication, and as part of these preparations started a mailing list in the summer of 1997. Participation in this list continued even after publication had been completed, and it is still in use today. The first book published in connection with this list, Shogaihenoshotai - shakai, bunka, disuabiriti (Invitation to disability - Society, Culture and Disability), Jun Ishikawa and Osamu Nagase eds., was published in Japan in 1999. A Korean translation of this text was published in May 2010. In 2003 a research association [for the field of disability studies] was established. This book did not contain the term "disability studies", but it has often been cited in papers and books published since its release and presented as the starting point of this field of study in Japan.
Twenty years have now passed since our book was first published, and it has been fifteen years since the publication of the expanded version which forms the basis for this translation. During this time many things have happened in Japan. Even in this country, however, no text summarizing these developments has been published. The minimum obligation of scholars is to understand and organize the facts in their field, and I regret that we have failed in our duty to provided an updated version of this text. Many relevant books and papers, including some by the authors of this work, have been published. We hope to be able to introduce these texts to Korean readers in future. And while we ourselves may not have the time, I hope someone will put together a summary of at least the developments in policy and activism over the past fifteen years.
Tateiwa is currently a professor at Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences and the program leader of "Ars Vivendi - forms of human life and survival", a Global Center Of Excellence (GCOE) program selected to receive funding by the the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The translator of this book, Chong Hee Kyong, is a graduate student at this school and a member of the GCOE program.
Information about what the writers have been doing since this book was published is available at this program's website. We are now working to create extensive Korean * and English language ** versions of the site. We have also produced a Korean edition of our email magazine. Regarding the provision of information on the current state of affairs and developments in recent years (particularly concerning activism and social systems) not covered in this book, we hope to begin by using this website to provide as much information as possible. We would also welcome the provision of information from Korea.
* http://www.arsvi.com/a/index-k.htm
** http://www.arsvi.com/a/index.htm
We have a great deal of respect for the disabled movement and its supporters in Korea who have fought so determinedly and achieved so much in such a short period of time, and we believe there is a lot we can learn from them. Those in the disabled movements in Japan and Korea have already learned many things from each other. One of the authors whose main occupation is not research, Yuho Asaka, has been working with people in Korea. It is actually the professional researchers who have lagged behind in this area. It was not until 2008 that, as part of the activities of the GCOE mentioned above, discussions began to be held between educators and graduate students belonging to the GCOE and Korean researchers and activists, but in only two years these discussions have already grown into a lively and meaningful dialogue. Other students have followed Hee Kyong and come to study at the GCOE, and we have also been invited to attend more conferences and research symposia in Korea. We are eager to have the chance to get to know each other better and engage in discussion on these issues. We would be very pleased if this book had the unexpected benefit of helping in some way to achieve this aim.
March, 2010. Written by Shinya Tateiwa on behalf of all of the authors.
◆ASAKA Junko, OKAHARA Masayuki, ONAKA Fumiya & TATEIWA Shin'ya 1990 Ars Vivendi: Sociology of Diabled People Who Left Home and Institution (Sei no Giho), Tokyo, Fujiwara-Shoten, 312p.
◆ASAKA Junko, OKAHARA Masayuki, ONAKA Fumiya & TATEIWA Shin'ya 1995 Ars Vivendi: Sociology of Diabled People Who Left Home and Institution, Enlarged and revised edition(Sei no Giho)
, Tokyo, Fujiwara-Shoten, 366p. →2010 Korean Version, tranlation by Chong Hee Kyong
