SAITAMA, Japan - Competitive video gaming is opening new opportunities for people with disabilities in Japan, with a growing number of organizations using esports to promote social participation and help players find work.
At a tournament held in May at Tokyo Big Sight, 32-year-old Shunya Hatakeyama, who has muscular dystrophy, faced an able-bodied opponent in a fighting game using a controller operated with his chin and a hand-held switch.
Nearby, Naoya Kitamura, also 32, who is totally blind, navigated his character while wearing headphones and a blindfold, relying on differences in the pitch and type of in-game sounds.
The tournament was run with the involvement of ePARA, a company based in Toda, Saitama Prefecture, that organizes barrier-free esports competitions open to participants regardless of disability, age or gender.
The company also uses esports as part of employment support programs, inviting corporate representatives to watch participants compete in the hope of demonstrating abilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
"I want to bring out people's hidden talents and create an environment where they can thrive," said company president Daiki Kato, 45.
Kato founded ePARA in 2016 after graduating from Hosei University Law School, working as a court official and later moving into the welfare sector.
He said he decided to start the company after meeting a person with a disability who spoke three languages but was entrusted only with simple work and earned a monthly salary of 80,000 yen ($503).
"I wanted everyone to have the chance to do work that matches their abilities," he said.
As of June, ePARA had seven employees, four of whom, including Hatakeyama and Kitamura, have disabilities.
The company says about 10 people have found jobs in areas including information technology and web production after taking part in its employment support events.
Participants have told the company the experience changed their lives and connected them with companies they would never have come across through public employment services.
Similar initiatives are spreading elsewhere in Japan.
In 2019, the Gunma Prefecture e-Sports Association held what it described as Japan's first esports tournament exclusively for people with disabilities. Since then, the Japan Para e-Sports Association has been established in Osaka, while the Ehime Para e-Sports Tournament, featuring competitors from disability support facilities across the prefecture, was first held in 2021.
The movement comes as Japan continues to face challenges in expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The statutory employment rate that companies are required to meet was raised on July 1 this year from 2.5 percent to 2.7 percent. However, as of June 2025, fewer than half of companies had met even the previous requirement.
Kato said he hoped esports could help challenge assumptions about the kinds of work people with disabilities can do.
"People with disabilities shouldn't be boxed into simple jobs. I want to help create a society where they have a much wider range of career choices."
