2: Will I Have 100 Friends ? kazumi is blind, yet when she was 4 years old she attended a kindergarten for normal-sighted children near her home in the suburbs of Tokyo. It was the first step in an experiment which has become famous in Japan. Integrated education for the handicapped has existed in some countries like Britain, in a limited way, for many years. Not so in Japan. Kazumi was the test case. There were serious doubts as to whether a blind child could cope with the rough and tumble of normal school life, and it was only through her mother's determination and Kazumi's own personality that the authorities agreed to give it a try. Japanese television followed Kazumi's progress over 18 months from kindergarten to the end of her first year at primary school.
Narrated by VALERIE SINGLETON
A film by niik Tokyo
Adapted for the BBC by marvse addisoii (Part 3 tomorrow at 7.40 pm)