Just as native Japanese speakers take writing courses to improve their writing skills, people who use sign language in their daily lives may also take part in sign language study groups to improve their signing skills.
Even so, only about one in 400 people has a hearing disability, and opportunities to meet people of the same generation who use sign language in their daily lives are rare.
I had only recently moved from the Kanto region to Kurashiki in December 2023. Although I had gradually had more opportunities to meet people with hearing disabilities from older generations, I rarely had the chance to meet people in their 20s and 30s who shared my experience.
Around that time, I was told about the Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of People with Hearing Disabilities Youth Division, and I went along to a sign language study group.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2024. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Overview of the sign language study group
The sign language study group was held on Saturday, June 22, 2024, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in a meeting room at the Okayama Prefecture Center for People with Hearing Disabilities in Okayama City.
This study group was jointly organized by the Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of People with Hearing Disabilities Youth Division and the Okayama Sign Language Interpreting Issues Research Association's Next Generation Activities Committee (referred to below as “N-Action Okayama”).
The Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of People with Hearing Disabilities is a public interest incorporated association that provides places for people with hearing disabilities to connect, promotes sign language, and dispatches sign language interpreters. Its Youth Division serves people with hearing disabilities generally up to their 30s, providing opportunities to build friendships and pursue lifelong learning.
The Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of People with Hearing Disabilities is an organization in Okayama Prefecture, but similar organizations exist in all 47 prefectures, each with its own youth division.
N-Action Okayama is an organization made up of members of the Okayama Sign Language Interpreting Issues Research Association, generally up to their 40s. Its age range is similar to that of the Youth Division.
This event was held to bring together people with hearing disabilities who use sign language in Okayama Prefecture and people learning sign language from the same generation, so they could exchange and improve their sign language skills together.
What happened on the day
When I arrived at the meeting room at the Okayama Prefecture Center for People with Hearing Disabilities shortly after 1 p.m., I saw not only adults but children as well.
Both the Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of People with Hearing Disabilities Youth Division (referred to below as the “Youth Division”) and N-Action Okayama are aimed at people around their 30s, so many members are raising children. The event announcement also said that children were welcome, and it was wonderful that parents could take part in exchange and lifelong learning with friends who communicate in sign language, even with their children in tow.
The event was held in Okayama City, but there seemed to be many participants from outside Okayama City, including Kurashiki City. Around 30 people from a range of backgrounds gathered around the shared theme of sign language: people with hearing disabilities who use it in daily life, people active as sign language interpreters, people learning sign language, and others.
Understand the meaning and use sign language
As its name suggests, the sign language study group began with a sign language lesson. The instructors were from the Learning Department of the Okayama Sign Language Interpreting Issues Research Association.
When translating “notebook computer” from Japanese into English, people may be tempted to say “note,” but English speakers would not understand. In English, a notebook computer is called a “laptop.”
Similarly, Japanese and sign language are different languages, so expressing something in Japanese as-is when translating can sometimes fail to convey the intended meaning to people with hearing disabilities. At this study group, we considered translating from Japanese into sign language using two example sentences in Japanese.
Are you okay?
The Japanese phrase “Are you okay?” can have various meanings, including the following:
- Is this seat okay?
- Would you like coffee after your meal?
In the first example, “Are you okay?” means “Is this seat all right?” In sign language, this is expressed as “Is it okay?,” with the little finger placed against the chin. In the second example, “Are you okay?” means “Would you like coffee?” In sign language, it is expressed as “Want it or not?”
There is also a sign for “okay” in which the fingertips of the slightly bent right hand are placed on the left chest and then on the right chest. However, this sign means “can,” so it is not used in the contexts above.
Excuse me
In Japanese culture, people often say “sumimasen” (excuse me), but this expression is not commonly used in sign language.
In sign language, “excuse me” is used only to apologize. To express gratitude, people say “thank you”; to get someone’s attention, they often tap them on the shoulder or wave a hand in front of them to prompt them to look.
There are other words like this that are a single word in Japanese but translate into different words in sign language.
In the second half of the study group, participants split into groups and discussed how they might express assigned words in sign language.
My group was given the word “toru.”
We discussed the different ways “toru” can be used, such as “If you mean taking a photo, maybe you’d sign pressing the shutter,” and “If you mean taking off glasses, maybe you’d sign removing your glasses.”
When I sign while speaking, I sometimes find myself influenced by Japanese expressions. I realized that especially when translating from Japanese into sign language, I want to think about the meaning of a word in context before using it.
Try using sign language with sign language karuta
After learning and exercising our minds, we socialized through a game.
That day, the Youth Division suggested playing karuta in sign language, so we played in the groups that had discussed the words during the study session.
Two people with hearing disabilities, including me, were in my group, so we read the cards aloud in sign language while the participants learning sign language and the children competed to grab the matching cards.
The karuta cards included many Japanese expressions that don’t come up in everyday life, and I struggled to think, “How would I express this in sign language?” But thanks to my kind teammates, who understood what I was trying to say, we managed to finish the game.
The other groups also seemed to be having fun discussing things like, “Would this expression work for this Japanese word?”
Talk with people with hearing disabilities in sign language and learn about the world they see
What particularly stood out to me at this sign language study group was the instructor’s comment: “The purpose of sign language learners interacting with people with hearing disabilities should not be limited to improving their sign language skills.”
You can learn sign language vocabulary at home or in your local area. However, the instructor said that only by interacting with people with hearing disabilities can you learn about what they want interpreted in real interpreting situations, the difficulties they face, and the world as seen by people with hearing disabilities.
Because opportunities for people with hearing disabilities, interpreters, and sign language learners to gather in one place are limited, it is important to have your own purpose when taking part in these exchanges.
As someone who is deaf, I also have opportunities to speak in front of people. These experiences make me realize that things I take for granted in my everyday life are not necessarily taken for granted by hearing people. They made me want us to talk openly about what each of us feels in interpreting situations and work together to create higher-quality sign language interpreting.
From the Writer
Before moving to Kurashiki, I lived in the Kanto region. Since the number of people involved in sign language was proportional to the population, it was easy to find people on social media and elsewhere who wanted to connect through sign language.
Okayama Prefecture, on the other hand, is a regional city, so there are not many people who use sign language. However, precisely because there are so few people involved in sign language, people who use it often see one another face to face.
As a result, interpreters who I have personally connected with often come to interpret, and I feel more at ease receiving their services. Just as Japanese has “youth slang,” sign language also has “expressions used by young people.” I think that more opportunities for people of the same generation who use sign language to gather, like this one, will make it easier to find friends.
This is the first collaborative event between the Youth Division and N-Action Okayama. I look forward to more initiatives where people of the same generation who use sign language can get together and enjoy themselves.
Sign Language Study Session Information
| Name | Sign Language Study Session |
|---|---|
| Date | June 22, 2024, 1:30–4:30 p.m. |
| Location | 2-13-1 Minamikata, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission (tax included) | Free |
| Website | Okayama Prefecture Association for the Welfare of the Deaf, Public Interest Incorporated Association, Youth Division Instagram |
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