Satoshi Fukushima (Fukushima) is a deafblind man who lost his sight when he was 9 years old, and then his hearing at 18.He uses finger braille to communicate with hearing and sighted interlocutors and this study examines how Fukushima connects with the world based on analyses of data from an interpreter-mediated dialogue with the first author (Bono),which was video-recorded in 2015. Our analysis focuses on two key queries: (1) How did Fukushima ask a question of the interviewer via his interpreters, including questions that are related to the concept of other-initiated repair (Schegloff et al., 1977); (2) During the conversation, how did Fukushima's questions differ depending on the state of his knowledge about a given topic, which is related to the concept of epistemics in action (Heritage, 2012a, 2012b). The concluding discussion will be sharpened through a reflective dialogue between Bono and Fukushima, which was video-recorded in 2019. In addition, in previous studies employing conversation analysis (CA) and interaction studies, researchers have tended to avoid participating in their own data in order to prevent potential bias in their analysis. However, this paper suggests that interactional analysts should not stay away from engaging with actual actors in the real world and may be able to provide valuable perspectives, especially due to their careful awareness and observations of actions. As such, this paper aims to help bridge the divide between CA/interaction studies and Tojisha studies.
