DIJ researcher Carolin Fleischer-Heininger‘s latest publication “Perspektiven auf Blindheit in Beruna no shippo (1996) von Gunji Nanae” studies the discussion of blindness as a disability in Gunji’s autobiographical novel Beruna no shippo. A close reading, taking into account theories from Disability Studies, shows that the novel is aimed at a general public that promotes guide dogs. At the same time, the novel portrays blindness – in particular with regard to mobility and motherhood – as a difference and as a deficit. Carolin’s analysis is preceded by an introductory section on the author, the novel, and the context in which it was written and received. It also includes comments on blindness as a disability in Japan and in Japanese literature as well as a review of related research. Her chapter was published in Formationsprozesse japanischer Literatur: Selbstreflexionen, Metafiktion und die Relevanz des Mediums (EB-Verlag 2025), edited by Lisette Gebhardt and Christian Chappelow.