“Preface”

Tatsuya Mima*

*Professor, Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Director, Institute of Ars Vivendi, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan

This special issue of Ars Vivendi Journal features four contributions.
The first article by Jay Afrisando, explores aural diversity through an arts-based research project that maps diverse hearing–listening experiences and challenges normative assumptions about sound. By using sound captions created by participants with different auditory profiles, it demonstrates how collaborative artistic practices can generate accessible, alternative forms of knowledge and invite a rethinking of what it means to hear and listen.
The second article, by Keiko Toshimitsu, analyzes Japan’s Eugenic Protection Act, highlighting how state policies led to widespread violations of the reproductive rights of persons with disabilities through coerced sterilization and abortion. It also traces victims’ long struggle for recognition and redress, culminating in the 2024 Supreme Court ruling, while underscoring ongoing challenges and the persistence of eugenic thinking.
The third article, by Shin’ichiro Kumagaya, examines Japan’s implementation of the CRPD and its Concluding Observations, highlighting both institutional reforms and persistent gaps, particularly in ensuring self-determination and participation of persons with disabilities. Drawing on disability studies and tōjisha kenkyū, it argues for a shift toward user-led, community-based approaches that transform social environments and support genuine inclusion.
The fourth contribution, by Hiroko Koizumi and Mitsutoshi Oyabu, reports on practical efforts to enable persons with severe disabilities to live in the community, emphasizing everyday support systems, care practices, and institutional arrangements that sustain such lives. It highlights how individualized support, collaborative care, and flexible service design can expand possibilities for independent living, while also revealing structural and social barriers that continue to limit full inclusion.
The latter three articles are based on lectures delivered at the East Asia Disability Studies Forum 2025, held on October 25–26, 2025, at Ritsumeikan University (Osaka Ibaraki Campus, Osaka, Japan). The forum brought together scholars, practitioners, and activists to engage in critical discussions on disability, society, and policy across the East Asian region.
It is our hope that this issue contributes to ongoing dialogues at the intersection of disability studies, ethics, and society, while also fostering new forms of knowledge and collaboration across disciplines and regions.