Japan`s “Blade Library” offers joy of blade running to amputees

TOKYO (Reuters) – Haruta Saito, a young Japanese amputee who dreams of becoming a Paralympian, remembers strapping on a prosthetic &ldquo-running blade&rdquo- for the first time.

The 10-year-old boy, who had his right leg amputated at age two, never had the chance to use a blade because it was too expensive.

That changed in April when he was given early access to Japan&rsquo-s new Blade Library in Tokyo, which lets people try on prosthetic limbs for running for a small fee.

&ldquo-It&rsquo-s difficult to leap forward with the prosthetic limb I usually use. It&rsquo-s different from this one (the blade),&rdquo- Saito told Reuters during a weekend ceremony when the library officially opened to the public.

&ldquo-But this blade jumps and leaps…it lets me run faster,&rdquo- he said after running and shooting basketballs on the library&rsquo-s sports track.

The curved prosthetic blades are often made of carbon fiber and bend and spring as a person runs.

The blades, which can cost thousands of dollars each, generally do not qualify for government subsidies in Japan because they are not deemed &ldquo-essential to daily life,&rdquo- an official at the health and welfare ministry told Reuters.

The Blade Library allows people to try any of its 24 prosthetic blades for a daily fee of around 1000 yen ($9).

The library was opened by Xiborg, a Japanese company that researches and develops prosthetic limbs for runners. The company collected over 17.5 million yen ($156,300) in crowdfunding to open the facility.

&ldquo-It&rsquo-s sad that having your leg amputated becomes the reason why you can&rsquo-t run,&rdquo- said Ken Endo, Chief Executive Officer of Xiborg.

&ldquo-I want to create an environment where everyone can run and have fun,&rdquo- he said.

Chie Yamashita, a 20-year-old university student whose left leg was amputated a decade ago after a car accident, played tennis with a regular prosthetic limb because blades were too expensive.

&ldquo-If there is a place like this library, then I can borrow them without hesitation and that&rsquo-s wonderful,&rdquo- she said.