Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Towards accessible science laboratories in Japan

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Chemistry

View current issue Sign up to alerts

The participation of people with disabilities in higher education in STEM fields in Japan is significantly lower than the proportion of the general population. Here, I discuss our work building an inclusive laboratory, university initiatives to improve accessibility and explain the need for additional support for researchers with disabilities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Wheelchair-accessible sink from Yamato Scientific Co., Ltd. and GK Sekkei Inc.
Fig. 2: Accessing a microscope by standing wheelchair.

References

  1. National Survey of Supports for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education Settings in Japan (Japan Student Service Organization, 2021); https://www.jasso.go.jp/en/statistics/shougai_gakusei/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2022/07/15/fy2018_survey.pdf.

  2. Annual Report on Government Measures for Persons with Disabilities (Summary) 2018 (Cabinet Office Japan, 2018); https://www8.cao.go.jp/shougai/english/annualreport/2018/index-pdf.html.

  3. Sukhai, M. A. & Mohler, C. E. Essential requirements and academic accommodations in the sciences. In Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences 117–128 (Academic Press, 2017).

  4. Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (National Science Foundation, 2023); https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/2022-10/nsf23_1.pdf.

  5. Inclusive Design Laboratory Project is Featured in a Magazine [Japanese] (Yamato Scientific Co., Ltd., 2022); https://www.yamato-net.co.jp/topics/detail/1113/.

  6. Barrier-free Research: Designing an Accessible Laboratory (The University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Scicnce and Technology, 2020); https://www.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/research/frontrunner_namiki.html.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Shigehiro Namiki

Authors
  1. Shigehiro Namiki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shigehiro Namiki.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Namiki, S. Towards accessible science laboratories in Japan. Nat Rev Chem 7, 819–820 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00553-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00553-3

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation