Public Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Accessibility of Assistance Dogs for Physically Impaired People in Japan

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Assistance dogs (guide dogs for people with visual impairment, service dogs for
people with ambulatory impairment, and hearing dogs for people with hearing
impairment) contribute greatly to the welfare of people with physical impairment.
However, there have been many cases involving the denial of public access to
assistance dogs in Japan. From 2003, a law (Assistance Dog of Persons with Physical
Disability Act; Shintaishogaisha Hojokenho) has guaranteed the admittance of
assistance dogs to facilities generally accessible to the public in Japan. Just after the
full enforcement of this law, this study clarified the level of knowledge about the law
and attitudes toward the admittance of assistance dogs in 151 hotels, 65 inns
(Japanese.style hotels), 130 hospitals, and 78 restaurants by means of a questionnaire
survey. The facilities' understanding of the law did not reach a satisfactory level.
Attitudes toward accepting the admittance of assistance dogs differed among the
facilities. The more the facilities knew the law, the more they understood the
acceptance of assistance dogs. Appropriate education concerning the law is necessary
for promoting the admittance of assistance dogs.