A Perspective on Supporting People with Disabilities Learned from Kaiyodo

Hello!
Our shop creates products using fabric woven by people with disabilities.
In addition to that, they also help us with small tasks like making yarn, creating product tags, putting together instruction manuals, and preparing backing cards for accessories.

When I say that, people often respond:
"It's hard to find people who can do that kind of work."
"It's great that you have people who can do it."
"Who is capable of doing that?"
"We couldn't do that at our place."

These are things I often hear from people who have just started working or at support sites.

I don't really worry about that much.
It's not as if everyone who comes here is capable of doing every task.

There is a certain way of thinking that Kaiyodo taught me.

What is Kaiyodo?

Do you know Kaiyodo?
Have you ever seen those very realistic marine life capsule toys at aquariums?
Those kinds of decorative resin figures are called figures, and the pioneer that made it possible to mass-produce them while maintaining very high quality in both shape and coloring is
Kaiyodo.

They are incredibly realistic, and not only is the shape beautiful, but the colors are also painted with such fine detail.

In the past, such exquisite figures were all handmade by craftsmen, making them rare and very expensive.
The person who made it possible to mass-produce them cheaply was the president of Kaiyodo, through a shift in perspective.

A shift in perspective: 'Aha! That's it!'

"It's difficult for one person to become a master craftsman, so why not have 100 people become the craftsman?"

It is very difficult for one person to master all the skills of a highly skilled craftsman. It requires both experience and talent.
However, if you break down the craftsman's work into small parts, you can learn to do just one part just as well as a craftsman by repeating it many times. If many people work on painting together, can't you reproduce the result?

At the Kaiyodo factory, the work process is divided into very small steps: someone who only paints the base, someone who only paints the dots for the patterns, someone who only paints the pupils, and so on.
They also use ingenuity in their tools, such as using syringes instead of brushes to keep the paint flow consistent, or using molds.
Painting an entire figure beautifully requires talent and experience, but don't you think that anyone could learn to do just one single task?

I believe that if we look at things in the same way, we can create places where not only people with disabilities, but also people who struggle with certain tasks, can play a much more active role.

It's okay if you can't do it all by yourself!

At our shop and facility, we also break down tasks into small steps. For example, when tying scraps of yarn, we have those who can tie the yarn do the tying, those who can wind the yarn do the winding, and for those who are good at combining colors, we ask them only to combine the colors.

We also think about tools. If we want someone to stamp the same spot on an envelope, we make a piece of cardboard the same size as the envelope with a hole cut out where we want the stamp to go. By placing it on top of the envelope and having them stamp through the hole, they can stamp in roughly the same place.
In other cases, if we want someone to punch holes in a backing card, we have one person align the hole position and another person press the hole puncher.

When you think that you don't have to be able to do everything by yourself, doesn't it take the pressure off and make doing things a lot more fun?
And the experience of 'being useful to someone' or 'I did it,' even if it's just a small bit of help, will surely become a treasure for everyone.

We tend to focus on what we cannot do.
We especially tend to think that way about our colleagues. We assume it's natural for them to be able to do things just like me.
Unconsciously, we are operating under the assumption that everyone 'can do everything.'

Just as it's impossible for me to be a craftsman and do everything myself,
everyone has things they can do and things they cannot do.
If that's the case, instead of focusing on what we can't do, why don't we think about how we can all become craftsmen together?

That will surely be a hint for a fun and diverse society!