Satoshi Fukushima

Satoshi Fukushima (born 1962) is a Japanese researcher and advocate for people with disabilities. Blind since age nine and deaf from the age of eighteen, Fukushima was the first deafblind student to earn a degree from a Japanese university when he graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1987. Fukushima leads the Barrier-Free Laboratory, part of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo; the research done by members of the lab's staff focuses on accessibility.

Early life and education

Satoshi Fukushima was born in Kobe on 25 December 1962. Fukushima developed an eye infection when he was five months old, and lost vision in his right eye when he was three years old. After becoming fully blind, he transferred from a regular school to a school for the blind affiliated with the University of Tsukuba. In finger braille, the index, middle and ring fingers are used to mimic a Braille keyboard; finger braille users or interpreters tap onto both hands of the deafblind person. He was hired as an associate professor to create a new academic program in disabilities studies. The proposal to establish the new program faced mild resistance, but the faculty voted unanimously to hire Fukushima.

Fukushima is the director of the Japan Deafblind Association, an organization which provides information, training, and support to deafblind people and their families. He was honored with the Kazuo Homma Cultural Award by the Japan Braille Library in 2015.

Fukushima's biographical papers are located in the archives of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Selected publications Watanabe sō no uchūbito - yubi tenji de kōshin suru hibi (Soboku Publishing, 1995) Mōrōsha to shite ikite : yubitenji ni yoru komyunikēshon no fukkatsu to saisei (Tōkyō-to Chiyoda-ku : Akashi Shoten, 2011) Boku no inochi wa kotoba to tomo ni aru : 9-sai de shitsumei 18-sai de chōryoku mo ushinatta boku ga Tōdai kyōju to nari, kangaete kita koto (Tōkyō : Chichi Shuppansha, 2015) Kotoba wa hikari (Tenri-shi : Tenrikyōdōyūsha, 2016)