Our Mission
Making Everyday Experiences Accessible
For families living with disability or illness, essential everyday experiences are often out of reach. Whether it’s watching a movie in theatres, cheering at a baseball game, or dining at a restaurant as a family, each experience carries unknown variables which could complicate a casual evening. AYA works to create environments where the burden of extraneous factors is alleviated, and families of all kinds are able to enjoy these experiences together.
Why AYA Matters
Enjoy everyday experiences with confidence
For AYA, no request is too much to ask. From light and sound sensitivity to mid-programming medical care requirements—be it IV lines, tube feeding, or any other necessity—AYA strives to create environments where the accessibility needs of all families are met. With support from trained medical professionals and thoughtful environmental adaptations, AYA’s programming allows families to take a relaxed yet assured first step towards an unforgettable experience.
Medical Professionals On-Site
To address the specific worries families carry — "What if their condition suddenly changes?" "What if their IV and feeding schedules overlap?" — doctors, nurses, and other medical staff accompany every event. With trained professionals watching over safety, families no longer have to carry the tension of medical care alone. Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the experience fully, right alongside their child.
Spaces Designed Around Each Child
Sound levels, lighting, and the ground rules for how to be in the space. Rather than asking children to fit into a pre-existing framework, we make thoughtful "environmental adjustments" that account for the needs of each participant and the overall balance of the group. By creating settings where children can simply be themselves, we build spaces where everyone can truly enjoy the experience.
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255
Events held
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31,831
Participants
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ALL 47
Prefecture
International Activities
Why We Travel Abroad
For a child living with illness or disability, hearing “you can go anywhere” is very different from believing it. AYA’s overseas programs exist to turn that belief into something real. Since 2023, we have taken families to NBA games in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2023) and San Francisco, California (2026)—with doctors and nurses traveling alongside them, and every medical and accessibility need mapped out in advance through careful pre-trip interviews. Crossing the world in this way shows each child and family that the limits they once accepted as fixed can actually move.
The impact outlasts the trip. Seiei, a boy we brought to Minnesota, visited the University of Minnesota and fell in love with it—he began studying English intensively in the hope of studying there one day, and has since set his sights on joining Japan’s national wheelchair basketball team, training today alongside adult players. Mitsuki, a girl who traveled to San Francisco, later met Seiei by chance after returning home; inspired, she is now pursuing wheelchair basketball with the same determination, and already dreaming of the next country she will visit. Even the parents refuse to be left behind by their children’s growth— earning new qualifications and changing careers to keep growing themselves.
This is why we go abroad: not for the games or the sightseeing, but for the moment a child stops asking “what if” and starts saying “I will.” For our families, a single journey can redraw the map of what a life is allowed to look like—and your support is what makes that journey possible.
San Francisco × NBA
Minneapolis x NBA
What Families Say
Voices from the Community
It was like a dream — our whole family at the movies together for the first time in years.
My husband and I both love going to the movies and we used to go often before our son was born. I had always wondered, "how could we ever let him enjoy the excitement of a cinema?" We went in hoping we could make it through just the first 15 minutes, but thanks to the thoughtful care taken at every step, we were able to manage his care smoothly and enjoy the film all the way through. There were moments where he was startled, or let out a sound, and I was surprised by how much he responded. My husband and I experienced the movies as a family for the first time in years — it truly felt like a dream. The ticket stub is a treasure. Thank you so much.
Film Screening in Osaka —
Participant
I think we will always remember today.
We had completely given up on the idea of ever going to a cinema, so thank you so much for making this possible. Our child couldn't quite settle and we ended up leaving partway through (as we expected), but what moved me most was that no one around us seemed bothered — not even when we got up to use the restroom multiple times. I hope that by building up small experiences like this, we will one day be able to attend a regular screening. And when that day comes, I think we will look back and remember today. Thank you so much to all the staff for your support.
Film Screening in Shiga —
Participant
Building towards a future where community is accessible and possibility can flourish.
AYA envisions a world where communities are not limited by the societal constraints of inconsiderately designed spaces, social “norms,” and the variability of public life. Through the thoughtful questionnaires designed by staff members prior to programming, AYA is able to consider the broad spectrum of physical needs required by our patrons. By thoroughly evaluating potential outcomes, AYA designs programs which reflect our community’s needs, promoting participation from members across the disability and illness spectrum. By removing societal barriers which obstruct participation, AYA hopes possibilities will begin to blossom in our new community.
Representative Director
Yuki Nakagawa
Get Involved
AYA's work is made possible through donations and participation from people like you. Whether
through partnership or giving, there is a way to support us that fits you.