THE DAILY YOMIURI 1999年6月1日より転載

Cyberworld

Group gets disabled into workforce

By Taro Yamato
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer


Courtesy of Prop Station
Prop Station Chairwoman Nami Takenaka, center rear, oversees a computer class for people with disabilities.

KOBE-A nonprofit organization is helping people with disabilities gain skills to enter the workforce through courses over the Internet.

Kobe-based Prop Station was founded by Nami Takenaka, and was recognized as a welfare corporation last autumn. Its services are aimed at not only people with disabilities, who are often restricted to working out of their homes, but also elderly people looking for postretirement work opportunities.

Takenaka, whose daughter has serious disabilities, aimed to create a system that would allow people with disabilities-who tend to be isolated from society-to receive equal employment opportunities.

Having noticed the effectiveness of computers during rescue operations following the Great Hanshin Earthquake, Takenaka decided to center the group's services on personal computers.

Pioneering an Internet trend among welfare groups, Prop Station launched a Web site in 1995. The establishment last autumn of a Prop Station support group, headed by Keio University Prof. Ikuyo Kaneko, coincided with the recognition of the organization as a welfare corporation.

Takenaka, now chairwoman of Prop Station, refers to people with disabilities as "the challenged," or "people (capable of being) challenged by God."

Prop Station helps by providing conventional computer classes in addition to courses over the Internet and consultations to those seeking employment. In some cases, the organization also mediates negotiations between job applicants and potential employers.

Prop Station students graduate with professional skills that are highly marketable. For example, students enrolled in the one- and twoyear computer graphics program are taught by professionals in the field. Recent graduates have formed a professional design group called Baacharu Kobo (Virtual Atelier).

So far, more than 300 people with disabilities have graduated from Prop Station programs, and many have found jobs in their fields.

Tadashi Mori, an online translator for Microsoft Japan Co., is a Prop Station graduate who works out of his home.

"For people with disabilities, everyday tasks like using the toilet and commuting are enormous burdens," Mori said. "It is much easier to work from home."

Mori is one of two Prop Station graduates who are currently employed by Microsoft Japan. Makoto Naruke, the company's president, actively supports Prop Station and is a member of the group's board of directors. He says the Internet does not discriminate between the disabled and others.

Virtual Atelier has already received contracts from large companies. "They are experts at creating graphics and synthesizing background music," said Masao Tejima, president of software company Macromedia Japan K.K.

Prop Station's activities have also attracted government attention. In return for its participation in an upcoming Labor Ministry experiment on people who work from their homes, the group will receive an additional 100 personal computers from the government.

In the future, Takenaka says, Prop Station will place more emphasis on supporting the aged by providing skills required to become independent.

"As people get older, they become more susceptible to disabilities," she said, "With the aging of society, it is important to provide more opportunities to allow elderly people to become independent, which would benefit society in general."

The Prop Station Web site can be accessed at http://www.prop.or.jp/.

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