Conflict and cooperation

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the involvement of disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and related organizations in the process of disability policy making in Japan. Drawing on social movement studies focusing on strategic interactions and cooperative collective action, it examines how new forms of collaboration can contribute to solving future policy issues. Firstly, it presents a case study of the aftermath of the Tsukui Yamayuri-en tragedy in 2016, showing that people with disabilities’s forced dependance on residential care facilities and family caregivers has been identified as a fundamental problem of Japanese disability policies. Then, it provides an overview of Japanese disability policies since the 1960s, in relation to the DPO movement and the movement of disabled-people parent/family organizations, in order to clarify the origin and history of this problem. It also examines two examples of cooperation on the part of DPOs and affiliated organizations, which took place in the 2010s, around the time of the ratification of the CRPD. Finally, further collaboration between DPOs and related organizations, especially parent/family organizations, is suggested in order to promote the emancipation of both people with disabilities and families.