｜Length : 55min ｜Year : 2021 ｜

There are only 11 doctors in Japan with hearing disabilities.

Doctor Ryuji Imagawa (34), who works in Mie Prefecture, has not been able to hear most sounds ever since he was born.
He admired Doctor “Black Jack”, a protagonist in a manga series when he was young. However, Japan’s Medical Practitioners Act stated that “anyone who is blind, deaf, or mute will not be granted a license to practice medicine”.
Still, in 2001, the act was deemed discriminatory, and the words “deaf person” was omitted. This became his turning point, which allowed his dream of becoming a doctor come true. Today, he has been working diligently.

Through following the daily life of Dr. Imagawa, who reads lips when inspecting his patients, we hoped to ask what is important in the medical scene as well as our daily lives, during a time of worldwide discomfort in the wake of COVID-19.