SAPPORO - A lawsuit over the right to education in Japanese Sign Language concluded at the Sapporo High Court on May 13th, with a junior high school girl using the language in court to state that "Japanese Sign Language is my identity."
The case centers on two students who argue that their constitutional right to learn is being violated because they cannot receive instruction in their first language at a prefectural school for the deaf in Hokkaido.
The plaintiffs are a sixth-grade boy currently attending Sapporo Prefectural School for the Deaf and a third-year junior high school girl who previously attended the same school. Both students primarily use Japanese Sign Language, which conveys meaning through eye gaze, facial expression, and hand movement, in contrast to “Signed Japanese,” which follows spoken Japanese grammar and vocabulary.
Because their homeroom teachers only use Signed Japanese, the students claim they have been unable to follow lessons and are demanding 5.5 million yen each in damages from the Hokkaido government. They argue that being denied instruction in Japanese Sign Language amounts to a violation of their constitutionally protected right to education.
In May last year, the Sapporo District Court dismissed the case, stating that "there is no law guaranteeing the right to be taught in Japanese Sign Language." The students appealed.
During the appeal hearing on May 13th, the junior high school student addressed the court using Japanese Sign Language, stating, "Japanese Sign Language is my identity as a deaf person. The desire to learn is the same for hearing and deaf students. The right to learn is the same. Not respecting a language is the same as not respecting the people who use it."
After the hearing, she told reporters she felt some relief at being able to directly express her thoughts and emotions to the judge.
The high court is scheduled to issue its verdict on September 11th.
Source: HBCニュース 北海道放送
