Deaf Japan

Signaling an increase in international communication

Sitting there on the train, you notice fast movements from the corner of your eye. You look up and see a typical small group of junior high school students huddled together. There is nothing out of the ordinary, except that what originally caught your eye was their hand gestures. You realize they are using sign language.

When people find out that I teach American sign language in Japan, they always ask, “Wait a minute, isn’t sign language universal?” While there are some universal signs that are easily understood like, telephone, typing or driving (you can figure these out just by playing charades), curious minds ask, “Why are there different sign languages?” The simple answer? Because there are different cultures and so sign language is as diverse as spoken language. Although Americans and Brits speak English, American Sign Language (based on Old French Sign Language) looks nothing like British Sign Language. In Japan, there are even different Japanese signs between Kansai and Kanto!

Let’s just focus on some of the differences between American Sign Language (ASL) and Japanese Sign Language (JSL). In Japan, the sign for “Eat” is to extend two fingers (like the scissor in paper, rock and scissors) and move it towards your mouth. The JSL, for “Eat” is a visual representation of eating with chopsticks. However, ASL for “Eat” is similar to holding an imaginary sandwich and moving it towards your mouth.
Sometimes sign languages can look completely different from each other.

Here is an example of girl and boy in ASL and JSL:



Since there are a limited number of hand shapes, there are occurrences where two different Sign Languages share the same signs but have different meanings. Here is an example:

This is similar to how Chinese and Japanese kanji share the same characters but have different meanings.

Why do I know American Sign Language?
Both of my parents are deaf. Shortly after their marriage, they moved from Hong Kong to NYC, where I was born. Growing up, they taught me ASL. Years later, I entered a Sign Language Interpreting Program and became a certified interpreter. After coming to Japan, I was introduced to the deaf community here.
Many people wanted to learn ASL and I started teaching classes in my apartment in the summer of 2006. Shortly after that, I set up the website DeafJapan.com. Since then, with lots of support, especially from my manager Ms. Karasaki, I have been able to teach ten classes per week in Osaka and Kyoto. And starting from May we will have a new classroom in Tanimachi 4-chome.

About DeafJapan
DeafJapan students are highly motivated individuals who challenge themselves to learn ASL and English. Some of their goals are to visit the US, make new friends and enjoy ASL films and media.

Our mission is to provide the education and support they need to accomplish their dreams.

This year, we will have a deaf American, from Gallaudet University (the first Deaf University in the US) coming to our school to teach ASL and hold presentations.

In addition to ASL, our students have requested English and English conversation classes. Therefore, we will add English conversation, Business English, Pronunciation and Japanese Sign Language classes.

Currently, we have only a few elementary school kids in our classes but starting from this year, all schools in Japan are required to teach English to elementary school students. This includes deaf schools in Japan. With our skilled teachers, we are able to provide parents of deaf children visual communication and teach English more effectively. Language is commonly learned through speaking and listening but can also learned visually. It is our belief that sign language can provide great assistance when learning language. It provides mnemonic assistance and can be learned much more quickly than spoken language.

When I first came to Japan, I had a hard time remembering Japanese words. However, I could pick up Japanese Sign Language and express my ideas much more quickly. I believe this is because I wasn't tripping up over pronunciation and accents. Eventually, JSL helped reinforce new Japanese words that I learned; I had a visual connection with the spoken word, as opposed to just remembering what the word sounded like. It's the same idea as writing down a new word. You will remember it much more easily than just by hearing it.

Finally, I feel that sign language is just a really cool language. Even though I am not deaf, I use sign language on a daily basis. It’s been convenient; there have been many times where I held conversations over the street, through a glass window or while snorkeling! The best thing about sign language is that I can move my hands and see what I am saying.

Text & photos: Danny Gong