Awareness Symposium on the 2026 Assistance-Dog Day and Concurrent Outreach Exhibition

The Japan Assistive Dog Information Center, a specified non-profit organization (Chair: Fumi Yoshida), in cooperation with the Parliamentary Members'‑Liaison Office "Body-Disabled Assistance Dog Promotion Members' Group" (Chair: Norihisa Tamura), will hold the "2026 Hojodog Awareness Symposium" on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

As a parallel event, an outreach exhibition titled "Issho ni Ikiru" (Living Together) will also be held with the support of the Tokyo Human Rights Plaza. All are welcome.

【Symposium Details】
Event: 2026 Hojodog Awareness Symposium
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 12:00 – 14:30
Venue: First House of Representatives Members' Building, Multipurpose Hall
(An entry pass will be distributed at the entrance hall.)

Accessibility support:
- Sign-language interpretation
- UD Talk

Notes:
- No prior registration required
- Free of charge

Hosted by:
- Parliamentary Members' Group for Promoting Assistance Dogs for Persons with Physical Disabilities (Chair: Norihisa Tamura)

Planned and operated by:
- Japan Assistive Dog Information Center

【Keynote】
Theme: Rethinking Rejection in Rental Housing
Speaker: Sei Okota, Attorney-at-Law

Biography: Sei Okota lost his eyesight at age 12, yet chose to pursue a legal career. After eight years of hard study, he passed the bar exam in 2006 and was admitted as an attorney in 2007, becoming the third blind attorney to pass the exam in Japan. As a community attorney (町弁), he supports clients with a wide range of challenges.

Book: "Why I Became a Lawyer as a Fully Blind Person: How to Train a Mind that Never Gives Up" (Nikkei BP), adapted into a TV drama in 2014 starring Momose Tori.

【Outreach Exhibition】
Exhibition title:
"Issho ni Ikiru – 24 Years Since the Enactment of the Act on Assistance Dogs for Persons with Physical Disabilities"

This exhibition is held concurrently with the symposium, at the same date and venue. All symposium attendees may attend.

Organizer/Support: Tokyo Human Rights Plaza

*1 About the Parliamentary Group:
The Parliamentary Members' Group for Promoting Assistance Dogs for Persons with Physical Disabilities is an all-party lawmakers alliance that submitted and passed the 2002 law on assistance dogs for persons with physical disabilities through all-party consensus as a parliamentary bill initiative. The group is chaired by Norihisa Tamura, led by Seki Yosawa (Secretary General), with the Japan Assistive Dog Information Center serving as joint secretariat.