People living in Japan
with guide dogs, hearing dogs, or mobility dogs are ensured their access
right by the Law concerning Service Dogs for People with Disabilities
which was put into full enforcement on October 1, 2003. Although it is
quite an important law enacted after many years of efforts, it has a
problem that foreign-trained dogs are not included in its definition
of service dogs.
The law says a guide dog must be a dog which has received proper training
at one of the guide dog organizations designated by the National
Public Safety Commission, and that a guide dog user must carry a
certificate and put on his or her dog a tag showing it is a guide
dog.
Since visitors to Japan with foreign-trained guide dogs cannot fulfill
these conditions, they are not supposed to have the access right,
no matter what the purpose of their visit may be. They might be refused
to use public transportation and to go into public facilities as
well as private ones, such as hotels, restaurants and shops, which
are open to the general public.
We, Japan Guide Dog Association, felt strongly that they also should
be ensured the access right in Japan, and this is why we have decided
to start providing temporary IDs for them.
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財団法人日本盲導犬協会ホームページコピーライト