{"id":18122,"date":"2022-08-29T11:17:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T02:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/oih2026\/?post_type=library&p=18122"},"modified":"2026-09-27T17:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T08:35:50","slug":"library-11327","status":"publish","type":"library","link":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/en\/library\/library-11327\/","title":{"rendered":"Shunsuke Shimura"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Special Learning: e-learning training to promote education in disability welfare<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The total number of people with disabilities in Japan is 9.647 million and rising (*1). There are currently about 140,000 support facilities for people with disabilities across the country, with about 1 million staff working on the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the major social problems in this field is the abuse of people with disabilities.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare surveys the abuse of people with disabilities every year. The numbers keep rising: in the survey published in FY2020 (*2), abuse by caregivers such as parents and family members accounted for 6,556 consultations and reports, of which 1,768 were judged to be abuse. Abuse by staff at disability welfare facilities and similar accounted for 2,865 consultations and reports, of which 632 were judged to be abuse. Both were record highs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese numbers are the tip of the iceberg; in reality, many more cases of abuse are hidden,\u201d says Shunsuke Shimura, Representative Director of Lean on Me Inc., which runs its business under the philosophy of \u201cbuilding communities that are kind to people with disabilities.\u201d From personal experience working at a support facility for people with intellectual disabilities, Shimura points out that a major cause of abuse is a lack of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, when someone is in a wheelchair, you can sense to some extent what they are struggling with and how to help, even without special knowledge. But with people who have intellectual or mental disabilities, it is often hard to see what they are struggling with, and without a certain amount of knowledge, it is hard to judge how to respond. Meanwhile, disability welfare service providers are required to have a set number of qualified people, such as certified care workers and service managers, but many of the people actually working on site are part-time staff without qualifications. Despite their worries about their knowledge, there is little time for education and training at sites that need care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Isn\u2019t this situation leading to the serious problem of abuse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To solve these problems in disability welfare, Shimura launched an online training service for people who support people with disabilities: \u201cSpecial Learning<\/a>.\u201d Unlike traditional group training and face-to-face classes, which are limited by place and time, it lets people learn anytime, anywhere, with a smartphone, tablet, or computer. What is more, each teaching video is about three minutes long. There is no need to read difficult materials, and the key points are covered so that anyone can understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lean<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It has been six years since the service launched in 2016. It has been introduced at more than 1,400 facilities, including local governments, welfare facilities, and welfare associations across Japan, with 37,000 users, and it continues to spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:
*1 Cabinet Office, FY2021 edition, \u201cAnnual Report on Government Measures for Persons with Disabilities<\/a>\u201d (in Japanese)
*2 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, \u201cPress Release\u201d (in Japanese)<\/a>\u201d (in Japanese)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

\n

A new business structure inspired by experience supporting people with intellectual disabilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shimura, who aimed to become a professional tennis player as a student, thought again about the future in the third year of university. Shimura was studying for a teaching license in health and physical education, but living with a mother and a younger brother with Down syndrome and an intellectual disability, Shimura came to want to \u201cbecome a secure adult who can help the family, financially too, if something happens.\u201d That was when the path of an entrepreneur came to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat said, I couldn\u2019t yet see what business I wanted to do, so I first worked at a restaurant to learn about management. I also started studying computers, thinking I would start a business in IT, which can be started with relatively few assets,\u201d says Shimura. At the same time, to help the mother, who worked at a support facility for people with intellectual disabilities, Shimura also started working part time in disability support. Experiencing these two workplaces, a restaurant and a disability support site, was what decisively shaped Shimura\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lean<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe restaurant I worked at was a major company with chains across Japan. It had solid manuals for every action and a system that let anyone provide uniform service. The disability support facility, on the other hand, had almost no manuals, and when I started as a part-timer, I didn\u2019t even know what to do and was at a loss. What is more, many of the users there had severe intellectual disabilities, and without knowledge or experience, I could hardly communicate with them. The senior staff seemed busy, and I could barely even ask questions. Being shocked by the big gap between these two workplaces was where it all began.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanting to \u201ccreate a training system that lets everyone working in disability welfare learn without strain,\u201d Shimura came up with the business concept of \u201ctraining services dedicated to disability welfare through e-learning.\u201d In 2014, Shimura founded Lean on Me Inc. and, while first making websites for restaurants, kept gaining on-site experience at disability support facilities, deepening that knowledge while preparing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, to start producing educational content in earnest, Shimura went to the United States, an advanced country in disability welfare, in 2015 and spent a month providing support at a facility for people with disabilities in Oregon. After returning, Shimura advanced program development while traveling around Japan to share this vision and build a network with experts in the disability welfare field.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

\n

The direction Japanese society should take, as seen in the United States, an advanced welfare country<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearning in the United States showed me the many problems facing welfare in Japan. The biggest difference is that the United States is further along in building an \u2018inclusive society,\u2019 where everyone, with or without disabilities, recognizes each other\u2019s diversity and naturally lives together in one society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs part of supporting the social participation of a person with an intellectual disability, I went along to a sports facility the person always used. But the person had forgotten the PIN needed to enter and could not get in. In Japan, the staff would probably have just let the person in, but the staff there did not simply let them through; they patiently guided the person, giving hints so the person could remember the number. Seeing people who were not care professionals naturally stand by a person with a disability, I thought, \u2018This is what living together naturally in society means.\u2019 Rather than taking away the chance to learn from mistakes by helping, you think and act together and provide the support that is truly needed. I keenly felt that when each person has that awareness, it leads to an inclusive society where everyone can live more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lean<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shimura also believes that the fact that disability support work is a licensed, high-status profession with an important mission and great responsibility is what raises the quality of disability welfare there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After returning, Shimura customized the information and know-how brought back from the United States to fit Japanese laws and systems, and in 2016 completed the e-learning training program Special Learning and began full-scale business operations.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cInclu-Tech,\u201d technology for building an inclusive society, as a tool for the future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

E-learning had spread among ordinary companies, but it was little known in the disability welfare field, and it was often rejected with \u201cit doesn\u2019t suit us.\u201d What is more, Shimura says, \u201cmost e-learning at the time streamed lectures endlessly as videos or had you look at PDF materials and answer tests, and it was hard to shake the image that it was boring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To dispel that image, Special Learning\u2019s materials were built around videos of about three minutes each. With the cooperation of well-known experts leading Japan\u2019s disability welfare field, the videos explain systems and mechanisms clearly and increase the credibility of the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lean<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, to change people\u2019s awareness and the way society works, alongside the business, the company launched \u201cFriend Company<\/a>,\u201d a website sharing information on the characteristics of intellectual disabilities, and began awareness activities. It also actively entered business contests to spread the word about its business and efforts and raise its profile as a company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These steady efforts gradually paid off, and things began to move significantly in 2020. With the spread of COVID-19, traditional in-person group training became impossible, the need for e-learning training that can be taken remotely drew attention, and the number of adopters grew rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The response from actual users was also strong. Beyond high satisfaction with the content, with comments such as \u201cBeing able to learn in spare moments really helps,\u201d \u201cThe focused content is easy to take in,\u201d and \u201cI can freely choose content based on my career and skills,\u201d 82% of on-site staff answered in a user survey that \u201cI have become conscious of whether my support could count as abuse,\u201d and the company began to feel the effect in preventing abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the business, Shimura established a new concept, \u201cInclu-Tech\u201d (inclusion + technology), and is boldly taking on society\u2019s problems, aiming to achieve the inclusion of diversity with technology as a tool.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

\n

The goal: a society where everyone accepts one another and lives naturally<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many facilities and users across Japan use Special Learning, but Shimura says, \u201cIt is still far from enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge now is to spread the service with more speed, so that sad situations such as abuse can be reduced in care settings as soon as possible. To do that, we will of course keep creating practical teaching content that fits the field, and also thoroughly analyze and clarify what leads to contracts and develop even more effective sales promotion strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Shimura, business success is just one step along the way. What lies beyond is creating an environment where everyone naturally knows about the characteristics of disabilities, and realizing normalization, where people with disabilities can live integrated into society: in other words, \u201cbuilding an inclusive society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are mountains of problems in disability welfare in Japan, and many walls to break through. That is why it is important first to grow the business in front of us and expand the organization. Because I truly want to improve society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking with a smile and conviction, Shimura is drawing a clear vision that leads to a future that can serve as a model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lean<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interview date: July 26, 2022
(Interview and text: Mitsuko Yamashita)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11330,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/oih2026\/?post_type=library&p=11327","catch_copy":"Realizing an inclusive society that embraces diversity through \u201cbuilding communities that are kind to people with disabilities\u201d","company":"Lean on Me Inc.","sub_catch":""},"library-category":[30],"class_list":["post-18122","library","type-library","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library-category-it","en-US"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library\/18122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovation-osaka.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library-category?post=18122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}