Japan Accessible Tourism Center

home

transport

sleeping

enjoy

travel tips

link

about us

contact

   Hokkaido Area
Sapporo

Furano

Shiretoko

Hakodate
   Tohoku Area
Aomori

Sendai
   Kanto Area
Tokyo

Yokohama

Mt. Fuji

Hakone

Nikko
   Chubu Area
Nagoya

Takayama

Kanazawa

Nagano
   Kansai Area
Osaka

Kyoto 

Nara

Kobe

Ise-Shima
   Chugoku Area
Hiroshima

Kurashiki

Matsue
   Shikoku Area
Matsuyama

Takamatsu

   Kyushu Area
Fukuoka

Nagasaki

Kumamoto

Kagoshima

Okinawa

There are plenty of clean public toilets in Japan, including spacious and well equipped “multipurpose toilets” that are wheelchair accessible. They used to be for “ disabled people ”, but now they are widely open for everybody including elderly people and parents with baby strollers. Some are located in the regular toilet space, but many are built separately.  You can find toilets everywhere, so do not worry and enjoy your trip.

Japanese roads are narrow even in areas with heavy traffic, so it could be dangerous.  Moreover, in urban cities, many people ride their bicycles on the pavement ( no cycling road in Japan ), so they could hit pedestrians. And due to the rainy weather in Japan, pavements are built higher than the street level, and are slightly tilted like slopes for cars crossing the pavement to get in and out of parking lots. This makes it difficult for wheelchair users to balance themselves when trying to go straight. The edge of the pavement is curve-cut to reduce the step between the pavement and the street, but still they leave 1cm step. This is for the visually impaired people to recognize the border between the pavement and the street. Yellow textured paving blocks (two types: one for guidance and the other for warning) is very commonly installed. But these can become barriers for wheelchair users, so there is an ongoing discussion whether we really need to have these blocks.

In Japan, people are recognized as “person with disability” when he/she possesses a disability ID certificate. Three types of disabilities are identified: physical, intellectual, and mental disabilities, and number of ID holders account for 6% of the total population. With this ID, you are entitled to various welfare services; one of them is disability discount applied for transportation fares, admissions, etc.  Foreign disabled tourists without this ID will basically not get discounts. And if you do, that is thanks to the individual facilities. In the past, many barrier-free facilities and services were open only to disabled people carrying this ID. But now, people have started to accept the idea that anybody with difficulty, or who wants to enjoy the facility can do so, whether they have the ID or not.

Electric voltage in Japan is 100V, and we used to have voltage conversion issues for chargers, but less nowadays. Please do not forget to bring your transformer. In case you need an urgent repair during your trip, contact the welfare office (public office) in the region to introduce you to the local dealer. Scooter type electric wheelchair users may encounter some problems in some places because it is not so popular in Japan. Elevators, doors and space are often narrow In Japan. Be careful.
  
One shop rental electric wheelchairs and scooters in Tokyo Asakusa area. LINK 

You can rent wheelchairs free of charge in public facilities , major railway stations, airports, shopping centers, art museums, tourist sites, etc. In some cities, they offer wheelchair rental service at stations and tourist information centers. Allowed to use it inside the facility only. They can even guide you around pushing your wheelchair. This is a convenient service for elderly people or injured people who cannot walk long distance. It is still very difficult to find a rental wheelchair for travelers.

All Japanese take off shoes in their house. That is Japanese culture. You also need to take off shoes at some Japanese traditional inn and restaurants. There is a place to store the shoes at entrance hall and they offer slippers for the guests. If you want to get in on wheelchair or with canes, ask them possible or not. They may request you to clean up your wheelchair wheels and shoes. However, never step on tatami room wearing the slippers, shoes and wheelchairs without any permission.

Useful Item " Pointing Conversation for Accessible Tour in Japanese ".  PDF download free.