Gallery Tom, in the quiet Shoto district of Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, recently held ‘Boku-tachi no Tsukutta Mono 2005’ (‘The things we made - 2005’) featuring about 60 works by children at schools for the blind from around Japan. This year, the works were expected to be included among a set of pieces to tour Spain, thanks to the Organizacion Nacional de Ciegos Espanoles (ONCE) which has been actively involved in promoting blind artists and helping young visually impaired people receive education.

“Art is created through sensitivity, not vision. That is how everyone creates art,” says Harue Murayama, Director, Gallery Tom. Gallery Tom is the only art gallery in Japan that caters to the visually impaired by letting visitors touch the displays.

Murayama and her husband Ado established this private gallery in 1984 after their visually impaired son, Ren, said, “even the blind have a right to see.” Since then, Gallery Tom has held countless exhibitions that allow visitors "see" art through their sense of touch.

Murayama continued holding exhibitions; symposiums and lectures by artists to educate visually impaired people in art, even after her husband and son died a few years ago. “I realized I had to continue (this work) because I wanted to leave something in this life,” said Murayama. She was utterly disappointed that Japan does not have a similar support system. “If people realise that (a person with a disability) is just the same as any other person, there would be no need for me to take such action,” said Muryama.