06-05-2025
Digital disability certificates replace vexing paper versions
Toshiya Kakiuchi, president of Mirairo Inc., an Osaka consulting firm, is behind the development of a smartphone app for disability certificates. (Ryuta Sometaya)
A free app developed by an Osaka company is steadily helping more disabled people around Japan avoid potential aggravations and delays when they seek special benefits and services.
The app was developed by Mirairo Inc., a consulting firm for universal design led by a president who has experienced such inconveniences himself.
To receive government services and discounts for disabled people, the applicants generally must show a disability certificate issued by local authorities.
However, disabled people have had many problems with the paper certificates, including how easily they can be damaged and the time-consuming process of replacing lost certificates.
Mirairo's app was developed in 2019 as a solution to such troubles by digitizing the certificate process.
Although a number of kinks need to be ironed out, more than 300 local governments have authorized the Mirairo app for use as valid ID when disabled users apply for certain administrative services or discounts at public facilities.
In addition, more than 4,000 businesses offer Mirairo app users discounts on such things as train tickets and admission to zoos and sports events.
Yuta Yoshimoto, a 32-year-old company employee in Osaka Prefecture, said the app has made his life easier.
'I can be recognized as a disabled person right away by just waving my smartphone,' he said at a payment machine in a parking lot in Higashi-Osaka.
The machine scanned the QR code on Yoshimoto's Mirairo ID app and charged him a discounted fee offered to disabled people. It took him less than a minute to finish the transaction after waving his phone.
'The app is so convenient for me because I have a problem with my hand,' he said.
When he was 24, Yoshimoto fell at a construction site, leaving his lower body paralyzed and reducing his right-hand grip strength to zero.
Before turning to the app, he had to contact a call center to prove his disability status.
234 KINDS OF CERTIFICATES
Under Mirairo's system, disabled people take pictures of their disability certificates and then sign up for the app.
The company creates QR codes containing information about the certificate holders after confirming the authenticity of their disabilities. This is done through inquiries to local authorities and the use of artificial intelligence to detect fakes.
The 47 prefectural governments and cities with a population of 200,000 or more are responsible for issuing the official certificates to people with physical, intellectual and mental disabilities, including schizophrenia patients.
According to Mirairo, these local governments issue 283 kinds of disability certificates. They vary in shape, size, format and content.
Holders are required to apply for a new certificate whenever they relocate.
Mirairo believes its app can ease confusion and trouble from the start.
'I am hoping that the app will help disabled people feel more comfortable about going out,' Mirairo's president, Toshiya Kakiuchi, 35, said. 'Just showing their smartphones will come in handy.'
Kakiuchi has faced difficulties showing the paper version.
Born with an incurable disease that makes his bones prone to fractures, Kakiuchi has used a wheelchair his entire life.
He recalled feeling uncomfortable about showing his disability certificate to receive discounts or services.
'It became my habit to apologize whenever I was required to present the certificate,' he said. 'I did not want anybody to see my disability certificate because I felt bad about being given special treatment.'
RECOGNITION GROWING
There are still hurdles that need to be cleared.
Disabled people and companies that accept the digital certificates need to be familiar with the app to avoid trouble.
In Kawasaki, where the Mirairo ID app is accepted, a bus driver in August prevented a disabled man from boarding when he tried to gain a discounted fare by showing the app on his smartphone.
The would-be passenger displayed the wrong information.
The driver was also not familiar with the app, so he could not help the man.
Mirairo has acknowledged that some problems have occurred due to a lack of knowledge of the app.
Although the number of local governments that recognize digital certificates is growing, it still represents only half of the country's total.
One reason is that many public offices have reservations about actively promoting a product created by a private sector company.
'We, as a local government, find it difficult to recommend the service of a specific firm,' a local official in Kanagawa Prefecture explained.
Wataru Fujii, an associate professor of welfare for the disabled at Nihon Fukushi University, gave Mirairo credit for helping to lower barriers faced by people with disabilities.
He noted that digitizing information still has a long way to go in the world of welfare services.
But he said digitizing certificates should not be the sole goal in efforts to enhance the well-being of disabled people.
Fujii said many disabled people have not obtained the certificate partly because they feel stigma about being verified.
'The acceptance of the digital certificate should lead to discussions on the existing setup involving complicated procedures for dealing with disabled people and of the way the disability status is verified.'
