Lefty Liberation

The nervous tic afflicting the Tokyo grade school girl was so severe that her entire body shook every time she twitched. When she was finally brought to Tokyo Psychiatrist Soichi Hakozaki, the diagnosis was surprisingly simple. The girl was lefthanded, and her mother had been trying to make her use her right hand by binding the left with tape. Two days after mom's therapy was stopped, the tic disappeared.

The reason for the forcible correction of the child's "defect" remained, however. In Japan there is a deep-seated prejudice against lefthanders that goes back so far in time that its origins are unknown. It is especially strong in rural areas, where teachers used to beat lefthanded pupils, and girls still pretend to be righthanded in order to get married. If their secret is discovered, they run the risk of being divorced.

Intrigued by the problems of his young patient, Psychiatrist Hakozaki began examining the plight of Japan's 5,000,000 southpaws. He soon discovered that there were many other left-handed children who were developing minor neuroses as a result of being forced to use their right hands.

Uphill Battle. Over the past five years, Hakozaki, who is righthanded himself, has become Japan's leading spokesman for lefty liberation. In 1968 he wrote a bestselling attack on the old prejudices called Warnings Against Rightist Culture. Three years ago, he founded the Japan Lefthanders League to encourage lefthanders to come out of the closet. Today the league's 1,500 members receive a monthly bulletin to boost their self-esteem and remind them of such famous lefties as Michelangelo and Harry Truman.

Throughout Japan, thousands of supporters have written to Hakozaki offering thanks and encouragement. Bolstered by the response, Hakozaki is carrying the fight to new fronts as well. He has persuaded several Tokyo department stores to stock specially designed scissors, golf clubs and tools for lefthanders. Now at work on a second book on the subject, Hakozaki is also designing a special manual for the art of brush writing, which poses particular problems for lefthanded schoolchildren. Though Hakozaki sees a "long uphill battle" ahead for his movement, there are indications that the prejudice against lefthanders is beginning to ease. One sign of progress is a record that has become one of Japan's top ten hits. Its title: My Boy Friend Is a Lefty.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.