Focusing on Essential Functions for Persons with Disabilities to Improve Working Environments From a Survey on Coffee Workers in Japan

Abstract

This article analyses the effects of reasonable accommodations given to persons with disabilities in the workplace in Japan. The author demonstrates that when persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations, their production increases significantly. The article also gives a comparison between types of reasonable accommodations provided in Japan and the United States of America, using the coffee industry in Japan as an example. The author is starting their own coffee company to see if providing reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities is a direct correlator to the increased productivity. The article provides examples of how workers in Japan are listened to by their employers. In one example where the worker’s disability is not taken very seriously, the accommodation provided is to read a comic book. When the reasonable accommodation fits the worker’s abilities, production of coffee greatly increases. The author wants readers to understand that when people are given reasonable and proper accommodations, they can compete in the workplace. This is true both in Japan and in the United States of America.