Japan
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| Japanese society places great emphasis on conformity and assimilation. As such, children with disabilities and their parents face great challenges in navigating the educational system. A few miles west of Tokyo is the Japan Oral School for the Deaf, or Rowa Gakko. The school was founded in 1907 by Presbyterian missionaries Dr. A. K. and Helen Reischauer after they learned their daughter Felicia had a hearing impairment. Mr. Shigeru Kawada, the principal of Rowa Gakko, says, “Although there are many Christian schools for children with this disability, as far as I know, this is the only one founded by concerned parents.”
A unique characteristic of the Japan Oral School for the Deaf is that it does not teach sign language, an approach that would be controversial in the American deaf community. Rowa Gakko builds on any residual sense of hearing in each student. Using current technology, each student's hearing is tested and hearing aids are prescribed and fitted. Recently, artificial inner-ear replacement surgery has been used aggressively. Fifty-four percent of Rowa students are able to move to nonsegregated public schools after three years. When Kay Zebley, PC(USA) mission worker, was approached by a Japanese friend who was distraught after learning of her three-year-old son’s deafness, she recommended Rowa Gakko. This woman was especially concerned because the local public school had decided to place her son in a class for children with developmental disabilities even though he had a hearing impairment. A few months later, Kay heard from her friend that she had enrolled her son in Rowa Gakko. She told her about the tremendous progress he had made and about the loving, personal attention of the staff and the encouraging chapel services. |
 Partners/Ministries United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ) (Kyodan): Rev. Noboru Takemae, general secretary, Rev. Hiroko Ueda, executive secretary for mission • Korean Christian Church in Japan (KCCJ): Rev. Soo-Kil Park, general secretary • Reformed Church in Japan (RCJ): Rev. Nishibori Norio, chair of the joint committee, Rev. Yoshinobu Kochi, secretary of the joint committee • National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ): Rev. Toshimasa Yamamoto, general secretary • Shikoku Gakuin University: Dr. Takuji Yoshida, president • Tokyo Union Theological Seminary: Dr. Makoto Yamauchi, president • Yodogawa Christian Hospital: Takeshi Ishida, M.D., superintendent • Japan Oral School for the Deaf: Rikiya Azumi, principal • Asian Rural Institute: Jintaro Ueda, director • Grace Rehabilitation Center; Kinjo Gakuin: Dr. Yasushi Toda, chancellor and chairman of Board of Trustees • Tokyo Women University: Dr. Akiko Minato, president • Meiji Gakuin: Dr. Satoru Kuse, chancellor PC(USA) General Assembly Staff Raymond Ocejo, BOP Rev. Katherine Ockels, WMD Soo Oh, BOP |
 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord (Ps. 134:1). |
 Ps. 96, 132, 134, 147:1–11 Job 12:1; 14:1–22 Acts 12:18–25; John 8:47–59 |
