Tsukuba University of Technology, JICA Tsukuba Collaborate to Empower the Deaf, Nurture Future Leaders in Kyrgyzstan

By Masaki Akamatsu / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

6:00 JST, July 4, 2025

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki — Tsukuba University of Technology and the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s Tsukuba Center (JICA Tsukuba) have jointly launched a training project to empower deaf people in Kyrgyzstan. The aim is to nurture future leaders by improving the knowledge and communication skills of the country’s young deaf people.

Tsukuba University of Technology, the only national university for deaf and blind people, submitted a project plan for JICA’s Partnership Program. After being selected, the project officially kicked off in April, to be implemented over the course of two years.

According to JICA Tsukuba, Kyrgyzstan has lagged behind other countries in terms of social participation by deaf people, which could be attributed to insufficient education and lack of recognition of the sign language. There are few opportunities in the country for deaf people to communicate with government organizations, and efforts to protect human rights and raise social awareness have not been effective enough.

This project’s origins date back to a visit to JICA Tsukuba in 2021 by Yutaka Osugi, a 62-year-old professor at the university who is deaf himself, and a graduate student from Kyrgyzstan. After that, they began coordinating with relevant entities in Kyrgyzstan to realize the project.

Osugi, who now serves as project manager, attended the first meeting of the steering committee in Bishkek on June 18. He discussed future plans with representatives from parties such as the Kyrgyz Labor, Social Security and Migration Ministry, a local society for blind and deaf people, and the JICA Kyrgyzstan office.

About 25 deaf members of the society are scheduled to begin online training in July, with in-person training taking place from August. The training aims to deepen their knowledge and improve their International Sign skills. Four core leaders will be selected in March to receive training in Japan next June. A seminar open to the public is to be held in Kyrgyzstan in March 2027.

The project costs around ¥13.75 million.

The ultimate goal is to enable young people trained under the project to lead dialogue with government bodies and other entities.

“The prospective trainees showed great enthusiasm, and I realized that the government, schools and other organizations have high hopes [for them],” Osugi said. “We want to work carefully in line with Kyrgyz culture.”

“We hope to see the living environment for deaf people improve by taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of Tsukuba University of Technology,” said Makoto Hatano of JICA Tsukuba’s Partnership Program division.