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Antonio Katawa, a Portugese man who has made his life in Japan for the last three decades, cuts a dash in his personalised Alber Adventure wheelchair, whether it is trundling the streets of Tokyo, crossing railways lines - a potentially hazardous adventure in a power chair, and one that nearly caused his death - or travelling on a bullet train.

He is also campaigning against the injustice and corruption that infects the Japanese system.

In 2006 he disclosed a scam by companies caring for disabled people. These companies would charge the government for services and equipment they were not delivering. As he discovered later, even the company in charge of his own care - named, ironically enough, zero care - had committed fraud in his name, over- charging the government 22,000 dollars for his care.

Unfortunately for the Zero Care, they had picked on the wrong person in Antonio Ferraira, who worked in the media and is a director in the Japanese Broadcasting Television Corporation. Antonio was soon giving interviews on radio about the scam. As a result, Zero Care found their offices being raided by the government. He also made a documentary about how some disabled people preferred to make their own equipment rather than use the old fashioned equipment they were provided with by care companies.

The treatment of disabled people in Japan is, he believes symptomatic of a larger problem in attitudes.

“Unless the disabled and their families come forward, it is difficult to stop that sort of sham. The Japanese government or the cops too won't move a finger unless things get drastic. Like when an individual commits suicide, or, if he or she has no power in their hands, are just left alone to die. Some of these poor souls are found months or years later by the ward office people or relatives that had to abandon them to their fate either because the individual is too proud to ask for help, or simply because the relatives are too busy and have moved into the city, and/or are too ashamed of the elder family member's eccentricity or senility.”

These attitudes have lead to numerous cases of harassment, including sexual harassment, mistreatment and even to murder. One nurse was found guilty of using the same needle over and over again for different patients, and another nurse burned down a home for the elderly and infirm after an argument with the doctor in charge. Five people died in the resulting fire, with other suffering third degree burns.

Antionio is also disturbed at the unsuitability of the power chairs provided for the disabled in Japan.

“They spend a lot of money covering for accidental deaths of power chair / scooters users , bribing the so called care agents and ward prefectural offices fat cats. If a chair like Adventure, iBOT and other foreign mobility goods entered the market , their caveman stuff would only sell as dead stock or in Third World countries.”

As a result of the poor equipment, Antonio carries a cable towing rope in order to help people who have been stuck. Many of the are diabetics, and are often in poor shape after being stuck for several hours as they have not been able to get their insulin injection.

The unsuitability of the equipment provided has been coupled with inadequate training in the use of power chairs, a factor which has contributed to a high number of deaths.

“A person that till now only rode public transportation to work, finds him/herself in need of a wheelchair, power chair or scooter to move about, without knowing a thing about traffic rules and traps, is liable to have accidents and some are fatal. In 2006 alone 98 elder and handicapped died at the wheel, so to speak. Most deaths were at rail crossings. Yamaha and Panasonic were the most of the gismos they used too.

“No one here trains or tries to educate these people on traffic and others rules, or on how to avoid trouble spots that I, for instance, a Gold Wing rider for more than 20 years, am used to.”

Antonio Katawa nearly joined the fatalities when riding a Quix Alber (“simply an absolute piece of crap”) which got stuck on a railway line. Bystanders rushed to his aid, managing to free him minutes before the Urban Express thundered through.

He now finds things better - though not perfect - on the Alber Adventure. He has personalised the chair with a device enabling his wife and children to ride with him - they hop on the back and ride along behind him without “needing to run by me like Secret Service goons.”

Despite the attitudes in Japan and the corruption of their services, the disabled in Japan are lucky in one respect: that they have AK57, a man who is prepared to stand up and fight for their rights.

Read AK57's review of the Alber Adventure or check out his movies on You Tube.