TOKYO, Nov 16 — As head of an organisation advocating for the rights of deaf people, Daigo Ishibashi, 52, sees the upcoming Deaflympics in Tokyo as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to raise public awareness, especially in a country where he has been fighting discrimination and prejudice, Kyodo News reported.

Born deaf, president of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, Ishibashi has been seeking to change a society in which people with hearing disabilities are mistreated and urged to adapt to the standards of the hearing majority.