Ryota enters the venue with our representative, Takaya, who will be moderating. The venue is filled with applause and a gentle atmosphere.

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Takaya: Do you have any recent interesting or memorable experiences?

Nami: Just yesterday, when I was trying to check into a hotel, he suddenly cut in and said, "There are two of us. I'm her brother." And when we visited the Shobu Gakuen facility in Kagoshima, my brother asked more questions than I did, like "Why is the ceiling so high here?" and "How much do you get paid here?" (laughs).

He's actually quite good at interviewing. It's amazing. His communication skills have been skyrocketing since he turned 25. I can't take my eyes off his growth.

Takaya: That's incredible. Ryota, do you enjoy talking to everyone?

Ryota: Uh, no, it's just, well, not really. But, uh, that thing, um, that. Harry Potter. That's a bit scary.

Nami: It's scary? I don't understand what he's saying. That's quite frustrating, or sad. But I recently realized that he just mentioned Harry Potter. He has something he really wants to talk about, and he says it no matter what question he's asked. I do the same. We're both incredibly self-centered (laughs).

Takaya: But it's great that he talks to us about various things.

>Read the full event report here

The "Watching Over Growth" Distance

Takaya: Nami, do you feel like you want this current family dynamic to continue forever?

Nami: It's always been that way, truly. Since I was little, Ryota has done what he loves, and I've done what I love, and if our desired destinations align, we go together.

People often ask me, "What was it like having a brother with a disability?" But for me, it was nothing. However, my mother apparently had a very difficult time. He was even more like a ping-pong ball back then, so she couldn't take her eyes off him. He'd suddenly dash into the road, and she'd have to catch him. Do you remember?

Ryota: Ah... I remember.

Nami: (laughs) You remember? After that, he graduated from a special needs school, and the first workshop he went to wasn't a good fit, so he stayed home for about two years. After he joined his current Type B workshop, his social skills as an adult really improved.

The venue was packed on the day, including standing room. Ryota's stories brought smiles to everyone's faces.

Takaya: Is that so? Indeed, when I had lunch with him, he ate a full course meal with impeccable table manners.

Nami: He can ride airplanes, and when he takes a taxi, he puts his own luggage in. He's really amazing. Once you become an adult, there isn't much remarkable growth after you turn 30, is there?

Takaya: My older brother also has severe intellectual disability with autism, and until he was about 15, his life was dictated by what my mother wrote in a notebook: wake up at 7:30 AM, brush teeth at this time, go to the toilet at this time. There was also "get out of the bath at 11 PM," and one time, the timer in the bathroom broke. He stayed in the bath until 4 AM. He was that faithful to the schedule.

He would also do chores written in the notebook. Around age 15, he must have learned that he could refuse. After that, he stopped doing anything (laughs).

Nami: He didn't like it. He didn't want to do it.

Takaya: Exactly. He didn't want to. So now I think that was probably his growth.

> Read more | Full article here

What you can't see precisely because you're closest

Takaya: Do you have any thoughts on how one might approach looking at family that could be more interesting?

Nami: Even after turning 30, there were still many things I misunderstood about my brother. For example, the fact that I often interpreted for him. Before, I interpreted even more than I do now. When checking into a hotel, I would never let him speak for himself. After all, it's painful for both of us, isn't it? It's sad when he speaks but isn't understood, so I would step in and say, "Um, my brother has Down syndrome," or something like that.

But after Ryota started living in a group home, I couldn't interpret for him anymore, so I worried about how he was doing. However, it turns out that precisely because I wasn't there, he started talking a lot more. And sometimes, he'd come back home frustrated because he couldn't get his message across, and he'd even get into physical altercations.

Takaya: So they're fighting? Quite intensely.

Nami: I'd just burst out laughing and say, "That's hilarious." When you think about it, of course that's how it is. We can express our stress and pain with words, or lash out at people with words, but he can't communicate to that extent with words. So, to do it through gestures, or through his will, or by staging a sit-in and refusing to move from a spot—I think that's right, and his desire to communicate despite everything is amazing. Even if the world doesn't understand him this much, he still tries to make people laugh. I'm quite overwhelmed by that spirit.

I'm scared of being rejected by people, so I'm not good at speaking. Writing is fine because only those who want to read it will read it unilaterally, but my brother bravely tries to communicate with people through words, and he tries to protect his comfortable place. I think that's amazing. That's how it should be.

I only started to understand these things after my brother turned 30. Because family is the closest, you sometimes understand them the least, or sometimes you unknowingly hinder their growth. I've realized that recently.

> Continue reading | Full article here


It was a happy day where people of all ages and genders, with and without disabilities, came together, wearing various products they loved, and gently mingled, enveloped in the soft atmosphere created by Ryota.

We will continue to create such spaces with all of you in various places.

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