BY MIZUHO ITO

At present, the Japan's Welfare Law makes no reference to guide dogs. Yet, although the Constitution of Japan says "All people shall have the right to maintain the minimum standards wholesome and cultured living," the living conditions of numbers of blind people may not be guaranteed. This may be the result of inadequate legal support, the shortage of guide dogs, and the failure to improve social services for the handicapped.

Ms Goi is a member of the Sapporo staff of The Hokkaido Guide Dogs Association, and she told us that there are only nine training institutions for guide dogs in the whole of Japan, her own being one of them. It is mainly responsible for training guide dogs and for taking care of guide dogs who have retired.

Ms Goi said that because most people have little understanding of the work of guide dog, the users of the dogs often encounter several serious problems in their everyday lives. They are sometimes refused permission to board taxies or buses. The drivers usually say "There might be trouble with other people." Yet guide dogs are trained not to bark and their hair is trimmed so that it will not to fall out and make a mess, which means that no one needs to worry that guide dogs will be a nuisance. It is important that blind people, no less than non-handicapped people, should be able to enjoy the pleasures of shopping and dining out.

The shortage of guide dogs is extremely severe. 7,800 people living in Japan need guide dogs now, or will need them soon (4,800 people); yet at the moment Japan can provide only 850 trained dogs. While it obviously costs a lot of money to breed and train a guide dog (anything from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 yen), the discrepancy between supply and demand is enormous. Since the Welfare Law does not stipulate making provisions for guide dogs, the government excuses itself of responsibility. 80% of the funds for training dogs comes from private donations, while the remaining 20% comes from local authority Community Funds. Such problematic financing is one of the basic causes of the shortage of guide dogs.

Meanwhile, only 10% of the blind living in Japan and in hope of receiving a trained guide dog can be supplied with one. Many Western countries, on the other hand, have brought into force laws relating to the provision of guide dogs and in those countries up to 50% of blind people are now supplied with such dogs. If the Japan's government were to follow this example and do more to assist blind people, more blind people could be supplied with guide dogs. But since the government does nothing, the blind rely entirely on donations and on the good will of ordinary people. If more people appreciated this situation, they might be prepared to donate money to help alleviate the problems faced by the blind.

The Hokkaido Guide Dogs Association takes an active part in events designed to spread the word about the present condition of blind people, and gives lectures to encourage a deeper understanding of the role played by guide dogs in helping the blind to live more comfortably. We should take advantage of these opportunities to learn more about guide dogs and should ourselves do more to help in creating a comfortable environment in which the blind and their dogs can live easily. Of course, the government should introduce a law to support guide dogs legally and assist in their training with money; they should also direct more tax revenue into welfare work so that the blind can enjoy a more comfortable environment. In the meantime, we ourselves need to make every effort to create a new environment so that more blind people are able, with the assistance of their dogs, to live lives as full as those enjoyed by people without handicaps.