Unseen Aerial Threats Remain a Fear for Visually Impaired, as Exemplified by 80-Year-Old Incidents
In the closing months of World War II, a young boy named Isao Shirahata found himself enrolled in the Kyoto prefectural school for the blind, located in the capital city of Kyoto, western Japan. Born with low vision due to glaucoma, Isao had limited vision in his right eye, and later lost sight in his left eye after an accident involving a bicycle brake lever.
The training at the school was unlike anything the students had experienced before. Amidst the backdrop of World War II, the school's music teachers began playing recordings of U.S. military aircraft sounds, aiming to help students recognise the approach of enemy planes. For Isao, this training was a unique and important part of his wartime experiences.
Isao recalled the distinct sounds of the aircraft, describing the B-17 as having a heavy, rumbling sound, while the Curtiss had a lighter, whirring sound. This auditory training was a crucial survival skill during the air raids that frequently occurred during the war.
Despite the challenges posed by the war, people with disabilities in Japan, like Isao, sought shelter from air raids, just like their able-bodied neighbours. The war caused significant physical and psychological disabilities through combat injuries, bombings, and other wartime hardships.
Isao's story reflects a combination of coping with disability in a devastated society, rebuilding life amidst postwar recovery, and possibly encountering social and institutional barriers in a traditional Japanese context. However, detailed accounts of disabled individuals' experiences during wartime Japan, such as Isao's, are not widely documented.
As an 89-year-old resident of Kyoto, Isao expressed that a terrifying experience like the one during World War II must never happen again. He remembered the machine-gun fire during the war, and the terrifying noise it created. Leaving his family home in Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, Isao moved into the school's dormitory in April 1944, at the age of 8.
The training method used at the school for the blind was unique and specific to the context of World War II. Today, it serves as a testament to the resilience and adaptability of those who lived through that difficult time. As we continue to learn more about the experiences of individuals like Isao Shirahata, we gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by disabled individuals during wartime Japan.
In his old age, Isao Shirahata, a lover of photography, often captured images of the health-and-wellness practices promoting fitness-and-exercise that he came across in his rejuvenated postwar life. More so, during his mental-health sessions, he often shared how the unique auditory training he received at the Kyoto prefectural school for the blind, a result of World War II, significantly impacted his survival and understanding of the world.
