An Anthropological Inquiry into the Cultures of the Hard-Of-Hearing and of the Deaf in Japan

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The purpose of this study is to explore the cultural patterns of the hard-of-hearing and the Deaf as minorities in Japan. The special attention is being paid on how they interact with the mainstream of the society and the treatment of the mainstream society towards them.The research is being undertaken in the Western parts of Japan, namely Kansai area and the northern part of Kyushu. The reason for choosing these areas is very simple ; the researcher is familiar to them. The interview method is being used for data collection in the research.In the process of collecting data, the researcher came to realize that there is a clear distinction made and to be made between the hard-of-hearing and the Deaf. This was not a kind of the thing he himself had expected. Therefore, he re-orgarnized his research plan so that he would pay more of his attention on the hard-of-hearing rather than the Deaf. There are several reasons for this ; one is that there have not been many studies done on the hard-of-hearing in Japan from the anthropological perspectives and therefore much is yet to be known about them (although some works had appeared on the Deaf culture in Japan by the time the researcher started this study). Another reason is that the researcher has had difficulties in learning the Japanese Sign Language (JSL), one of the essentials for the study of this kind.So far personal histories have been collected and being analysed. Because this kind of data contain many personal matters and privacies, the researcher is, naturally enough, very nurvous and careful in dealing with them. This has caused several difficulties in the publications of the study results, regrettable to say, of course. However, the researcher expects to produce several papers in months to come.