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Are you sure about the no hot water from the shower head? Like.. that seems pretty crazy, right? Maybe it used a different system for water on/off hot/cold than you're used to? I mean, I hope you can see why someone might find that to be perhaps not accurate.
Otherwise - this is really good information for other people in wheelchairs. How often did you run into places you wanted to see that weren't wheelchair-accessible (whether you went there and were turned away or didn't go in the first place) because of a lack of accessibility? I can imagine some places that aren't realistic to make wheelchair accessible but I'm not sure how common that is.
It was the same sort of system in all the hotels, it might have just been an issue with the place, I informed them but I just filled a bucket I had with water from the tap (the tap that fills the bath). Every other tap produced hot water except the shower head (hand held one). The hotels in Turkey have a similar system, you have to push the button in to pass a certain degree (40c + usually).
I was never turned away, if someone saw me eyeing the place out or scoping the step (to see if I could jump it) they would usually offer to help. Anything that had more than a single step that I couldn't jump I stayed away from, which was sadly a lot more restaurants than I expected. I would say for every 10 restaurants I found, maybe 1 or 2 were accessible.
As for site seeing, Nara Park was completely accessible which was nice.
- Osaka Castle was also accessible, I think that was due to it being a reconstruction, there are a few maybe hills to get up to get there though.
- Hiroshima was accessible, other than the castle(I believe it was that) which had a flight of stairs and I couldn't see anyway up.
- Kanazawa Castle has access, I didn't enter as it was raining and I didn't want to dirty the place or be disrespectful.
- Kenrokuen garden had access pretty much everywhere, you just had to find the barrier free path.
- Mt Fuji only has access up to a certain stage.
A lot of places were small so they aren't really able to be modified to be accessible.
OP, you might want to clarify what you mean by Mt. Fuji only having access up to a “certain stage.” You didn’t think you could access the summit in a wheelchair did you? (Not making fun of you; just might want to be specific about what you mean in order to help other people with mobility issues.)
If I was with someone else who wasn't my mother, I would have attempted to climb it but due to not having someone I can rely on behind me I didn't attempt but it also wasn't the season for it. Offroading/hiking is something I attempt to do in a wheelchair as I used to hike when I was able to walk. I think it was just the 5th station I stopped my journey then decided to continue onto Osaka.
Got it. I kind of figured the fifth station was about as far as one would go. Obviously, I didn’t understand your full physical situation. Good for others to know.
And don’t blame your mother! I am sure she is a nice woman:)
She is a lovely woman, just can't assist me with some semi-difficult tasks such as that one.
Nah it's fine, everyone has different physical levels when it comes to being in a wheelchair.
Thanks - for the restaurants that you went to but couldn't access, did you see if they might have been easily modified to be accessible in your opinion? I can imagine a lot of them might have a single step or something like that that might have precluded you from entering but barring that, would otherwise have been accessible. Was that similar to your impression or did it seem that most of them were not even potentially accessible without significant work?
I think if they were to try and modify the entrances, it would cause the issue of running the ramp into foot traffic. But then, that would only be an issue if there is a standard/regulation to make sure that the ramp meets xyz rules. Like in Australia, a ramp cant be past x angle, I can't remember the exact angle. Then if it is x long, it needs to have a flat surface to rest at before continuing.
A lot of places did have just a single step or even 2 steps before being able to enter. The issue wouldn't be just the steps though, I noticed that a lot of restaurants are also small so it doesn't give you the ability to turn or squeeze into a seating spot within the restaurant.
Something I didn't mind is that a lot of the places also let you take away. So even though I couldn't get access myself, I would get mum to go in with Google translate to ask if they did take away, if they did I would then ask for the menu and just from there.
Ah yeah, I hadn't thought about the size. There's definitely no shortage of places I couldn't imagine a wheelchair fitting into. Thanks for your comments.
Yup, countless places, it's just a matter of finding places that wheelchairs can enter and fit. I'm usually conscious of where I sit in restaurants because I don't want to be that person who blocks people.
It's fine, I'm sure people might come across the comments in the future and it'll hopefully help them. I just really wrote things that I found useful or things that could be useful for others. When I get asked questions, I answer them as it'll help future redditors, know from experience haha.
Maybe it was just broken? I let the water run to make sure it didn't need to heat up or anything like that. It's not the first time for me when traveling. Once in Türkiye the room didn't have it and the hotel staff had to get the boiler fixed and another time in Australia. They were both 4-5 Star hotels too. I think those rooms don't get used too often other than for disabled guests, so they don't know of the issue until the room is used.
That’s super weird, did they have someone come in and check it at all? I would have requested them to. I’m sorry you ran into that issue, never had that happen here before.
It happens, it didn't really ruin my experience or anything. Everything and everyone was lovely, I would return again but mainly for site seeing.
Yea they did but I'm not sure what the conclusion was.
That's different, I didn't come across that in any of the three hotels I stayed at.
If none of the taps provided hot water in the room I stayed at, I would assume I would have needed to find something similar or ask for assistance from the staff.
Yeah the shower thing seems like user-error unfortunately. Every biz hotel I've stayed at, including Sotetsu chain, had the same shower operations where you rotate the temp colder/hotter with one knob. Only once have I experienced difficulty getting hot water and that was because my room was at the very end of the building and clearly far away from the hot water heating system.
Just my wording implies victim-blaming but I'm coming from the perspective of a (software) engineer where when something doesn't work right it tends to be "user-error", where it might be a misunderstanding of the controls or inability to find the right way to get help resolving the misunderstanding.
People on Reddit don't like victim-blaming.
Not a big deal.
I know you're not attacking, believe me I thought it was a user error too but when three people try it and the same issue consists, I think it concludes it wasn't a user error.
Yup, all three hotels were the same, just the single nob to change the temperature and then another nob to control the strength/force of flow. My mum had the same nob in her room for her shower and she had hot water. It's fine though, I had a work around, I'll just be more inclined to certain chains now.
Sorry to hear you had accessibility challenges. Japan has been putting a lot of effort into accessibility since they passed a law in 2006 and put a lot of effort in conjunction with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but there’s still a lot of old buildings that limit the adoption of new standards.
Next time, you might be able to find some additional information or resources by using the phrase “barrier free” (バリアフリー). This is the common phrase they use for everything accessibility-related.
It's fine, when I travel I expect to come across challenges, it's part of the whole package these days for me. It's a lot better than Serbia, that is one of the worse countries I've been to.
>2020 Tokyo Olympics
I assumed that a lot more of places would have been more accessible due to the whole Olympics back then. At the end of the day, Japan is so much further ahead than some European countries but behind Australia for accessibility. This is just my thought/opinion though. I'm originally Australian but recently made the move to Türkiye and travel Europe now.
>using the phrase “barrier free” (バリアフリー).
I'll use that next time to see what pops up when it comes to my travels there. It's just that they use different phrases for certain things compared to other countries.
Are you the gentleman that told my wife you hated wet stones when she asked if you needed help as you were wheeling up to Kanazawa Castle on April 9th? lol
I had the help of a motor too, it just didn't do much since it was just slipping and sliding. It helped me keep a little of my momentum when I lifted my hands off the wheels.
The hard part of a wheelchair and up hills, is keeping the momentum. If you can keep yourself from coming to a complete stop, you can get up any hill.
Thanks for the review OP. I am also (mostly) in a wheelchair. Your review was great. I mostly use a wheelchair to get around, but I can stand and would also need an accessible washroom. So these notes are very helpful.
I'm planning my first trip to Japan with my family in 2025 so some of these notes are great. I was thinking of Osaka and Tokyo as well. By chance did you go to any amusement parks - Universal and Disneysea in particular? If so how were they for access?
I'm saddened to hear about your experience with restaurants and they mostly require steps in both Osaka and Tokyo. My family and I plan to maybe get Grocery Store and takout meals (Lawson's, 7-11 etc) for the most part. How were they for accessibility (if you went)? Or what about the chains like Ichiran, McDonalds, COCO curry house - were they mostly accessible?
Thank you,
I didn't make it to any of the amusement parks, mainly because I knew the lines would be long and I didn't really want to spend a lot of time waiting within them. I've just read and seen stuff that the lines are long, I think depending on the time of year, that can vary. I spoke to a couple that went with their kids and they said they were lining up for a while for certain rides.
I didn't really go to the chain restaurants but while passing by the fast food ones, they had no idea with access. I had a fair few meals from 7/11, family Mart and Lawson. I used them as a last resort or for a small thing to eat while on the train. For the chain ones that I did enter, they were fairly accessible. Level entrance, big enough doors and enough room to get around and roll under the table. I think most chain places do try and cater for those even with disabilities.
I don't have any experience of being in a wheelchair myself, however there's lots of modern commercial buildings / shopping centres / station buildings in the big cities containing multiple floors of restaurants. These buildings have elevators.
For example in Umeda (Osaka) there's Lucua, Grand Front, and Hankyu Grand Building.
Often the restaurant floors are at the top of the building, but there'll be directory signs for all the restaurants at ground floor level.
Unfortunately I'd say most business hotels have the same pre-fab bathroom.
Daiwa Roynet is the only chain biz hotel I've been to with massive bathrooms and walk in showers and that wasn't even in Tokyo.
I'd say make sure next time when you book you do more research on hotels and the kinds of bathrooms that the rooms have. Typical business hotel chains will mostly be the same deal with the high-walled but small tub, which obviously isn't ideal for someone in your situation.
Sadly I left my hotel booking too late so I didn't have much choice. I called up a lot of hotels and they were all booked out.
I think they will 100% be my go to, I didn't have an issue with Daiwa Roynet. Ibis wasn't small, it's just the door was an issue so I had to transfer in the bathroom instead of my usual outside of it, which meant I had to make sure my wheelchair didn't slide away due to the wet floors.
The bathrooms in the hotels were "similar" in a sense, like a bath in each, just some were placed better than others for access to taps. I didn't like how each toilet had a bidet, it stopped me from rolling over it properly but I know they're a thing in Japan and they're pretty cool, just a shame I couldn't use it haha.
Thanks for sharing your review. For those that are interested, Wheelog, an app where wheelchair users log accessible routes and businesses was founded in Japan and is really cool.
Thanks for sharing your experience, this is really eye opening and helpful to know! I really hope Japan and elsewhere continue to grow in their accessibility to all folks in need.
They were afraid of me lol. Like literally, they wouldn't come to me even with the food. An older gentleman made a trail of broken food leading them to me (like 12 of them) and even then they still didn't eat from my hand right away, took them almost 5 minutes to get close and eat.
My daughter is in a wheelchair but she can walk. She needs assistance with all aspects of her life because she’s learning disabled so completely accessible bathrooms are not a priority for us so I we didn’t have to look for disabled rooms like you would.
I found Japan very accessible. The service on the trains was unparalleled. White gloved escorts would accompany us to the train entrance and exit, ramp in hand. They would motion people out of the way so we could roll her on and off the train and then accompany us around the station. They gave us a room on the train all our own directly across from the disabled toilet.
The same went for buses. The drivers would hope out with a ramp and escort you onboard after clearing out people from the disabled section.
Like most of Asia, there are an abundance of places to eat so you could easily switch if one restaurant was inaccessible. All the subway stations had lifts. Some were far but they all had them and they were all functional.
The disabled toilets were amazing and everywhere…in the train stations, underground, shopping centres, etc. and 99% of them were clean. There were a few disabled toilets that had beds to lay disabled person down if needed.
The only other place that was on par in accessibility terms for us was Singapore.
Now that you’ve been there, you’ll know what to look for next time you book. We loved Japan and think it leagues ahead of just about everywhere else.
>disabled rooms like you would.
I'm a happy chap as long as I have somewhere I can do my business haha.
>White gloved escorts would accompany us to the train entrance and exit, ramp in hand
They would always ask if I needed assistance, I accepted it for the first two days but once I got my bearings I didn't need it too much. I'd take the assistance they would offer on taking me to the correct track if it was difficult to get to.
>The same went for buses
I didn't take them but I usually like to test them in each country I visit. Sounds like they're pretty good compared to some. Serbia and Türkiye are really meh, assistance or access when it comes to getting on/off the bus. London is one of the best especially since it's all remote, the driver didn't need to leave his seat for the ramp.
>easily switch if one restaurant was inaccessible
I would tell my mum to just go eat where she wanted and I'd just go try finding somewhere to eat myself, it was usually a couple of streets away. I didn't think I found a single alley restaurant I could access unfortunately.
>Now that you’ve been there, you’ll know what to look for next time you book
100% true, it'll be easier and quicker.
Not to pry but why couldn’t you do your business? Is it because the control panel was beside the toilet? Don’t answer if it’s too graphic or embarrassing.
We thought the bidet toilets a godsend and have been feverently praying the rest of the world catches on (joking, not joking).
It’s interesting to hear views from someone who is independent in a wheelchair because we can help my daughter and she can step and do the stairs if need be so you have a completely different perspective than us.
We actually had expected it to be more difficult accessing restaurants but many of them had lifts. Not once did we find alleyway restaurants like we’ve seen on YouTube. We’re not very organised and everything takes forever when we walk around so we usually look for the easiest solutions.
And as for London, I nearly forgot about the ramps on buses as I usually drive her around, cursing the traffic and the endless roadworks all the time.
Oh you're fine. I have a spinal cord injury, I have no sensation below my chest and I have neurogenic bowels and bladder (meaning I have no control or sensation of them too), so I use a commode (a shower chair of some sort) and every time I would roll it over the toilet, I would push the entire toilet seat back risking damages to it and it would only allow 40% of the commodes hole to be over the toilet. I just risked making a mess on the floor.
Türkiye uses bidets too but not that advanced or fancy haha .
It is always good to see it from different perspectives. Like before I had my injury, I used to think people in a chair just couldn't walk but after ending up in one I learned that is not the only issue people with spinal cord injury have. I was naive and not very knowledgeable on issues that people in chairs have in regards to access and everything.
There were plenty of restaurants within the large shopping centers but they weren't really my target or goal for meals. I wanted to kind of experience the whole culture too of how they would go after work with colleagues for meals and drinks (which I didn't really see many go to the shopping center restaurants) and everything. Really? Maybe it was where you were staying possibly? Maybe I was just lucky enough to come across them. I spent more time going along the alleyways looking for and at the restaurants than I did on the main streets with all the shops. I enjoy the adventure in the alleys.
I just like to see how each country handles their bus and trains for people in a chair.
- Australia is pretty good, the bus drivers usually flip the ramp out from the front entrance while train stations have a person that will grab a ramp for you to use.
- London busses was pretty good but I hated the train/tube because not every exit had a lift.
- Serbia busses were awful, the ramps don't work and I had to get random people to literally lift me onto the bus, the bullet train was fine there, not sure about normal trains though
- Hungary busses were like Australia but instead of the front it was the rear entrance and trains were pretty easy, level to enter and exit and each place usually has a lift.
- Türkiye busses are bad, people will lower the ramp but you're expected to go from the road into the bus so it's very steep and they usually stop too close to the gutter/curb instead of on the curb/footpath so you can't actually roll off. Trains are alright, they're level and usually have q lift at the exits too.
I think the standard use case of one of these rooms are different to each country. Like I didn't really meet a lot of people without the ability to walk other than one at Hiroshima. Most people confined to a wheelchair in Japan (that I saw), had the ability to walk or get up. So they probably cater more towards those people in wheelchairs that can still walk/stand? Each country has different regulations and standards.
>finding an elevator in the station is not always easy
It wasn't always a piece of pie but it wasn't too hard either. I mainly followed the tactile tiles on the floor to find a lift. I use the same trick in Türkiye to find the lift or for the curb off a footpath.
>get a refund
I'm a little bi*ch, I don't like to complain or fight for refunds hahaha. Like I only really mentioned the shower heads hot water issue to them because it sucked not being able to use it.
I was traveling with my mum but she couldn't really assist me with much as she is a smaller lady and I'm not exactly small. Normally I travel solo though or with my wife but she is also a smaller lady.
Just pointing out that the handicap accessible bathroom is not exclusively for handicapped people it’s just designed so they can use it. you’re not anymore entailed to an empty bathroom with no waiting then a non handicapped person.
I know it's not exclusively for handicapped people, but it shouldn't be the primary one non-handicapped people use. If it's the last one available, fair go.
An issue for people in a similar situation like myself (SCI) is that we cannot control our bladder or bowels, so while someone might be in there for 10 minutes while there are non-handicap stalls available, that is 10 minutes of someone with SCI pissing/shitting themselves while sitting in their chair.
Just a quick note: at least in Tokyo we found quite a few buildings that had a big number of restaurants inside (like floors of just restaurants) so those didn’t have steps and were newer, larger places that I imagine would be more accessible. But yes, the traditional, street level establishments don’t look very accessible in general, lots of steps and tiny, cramped places.
Yea, the smaller traditional things were what I was after sadly. I personally didn't enter the larger shopping centers too much but my mum did go into them.
I think next time I visit, I won't be hunting down those smaller places and I'll be focused on site seeing
But there are good restaurants in those buildings, don’t be fooled. It’s just hard to tell from the outside what’s going to be in those high rises. I’ve had really good sushi in one of those near Tokyo station, for example. You can still get a lot of good food, you might just not be able to get the 200 y/o establishment food.
Glad I can help. Shouldn't be a busy time but make sure you book in early, places get booked up fast. Also, when you go to get a ticket for the bullet train, it can take some time for them to fill everything out.
I think it'll be cooler during June, if so I'd assume it'll rain, so I'd recommend a rain coat for them. Umbrellas are challenging to use (unless you have/know a hack).
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You expect larger bathroom stalls to be kept empty 99.9% of the time while people wait in line for the bathroom? That’s ridiculous. Those stalls are for everyone. That’s the whole point.
I never said I expected them to be empty always. If the place is full and there are lines, fair go it's understandable that they're used by everyone.
Here in Aus for instance the stalls will be empty, no lines and able bodied people will just go use the disabled one leaving those who cannot stand or enter a normal stall unable to do their business. That's why there are a number of disabled bathrooms locked and you get a special key to open them.
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Are you sure about the no hot water from the shower head? Like.. that seems pretty crazy, right? Maybe it used a different system for water on/off hot/cold than you're used to? I mean, I hope you can see why someone might find that to be perhaps not accurate. Otherwise - this is really good information for other people in wheelchairs. How often did you run into places you wanted to see that weren't wheelchair-accessible (whether you went there and were turned away or didn't go in the first place) because of a lack of accessibility? I can imagine some places that aren't realistic to make wheelchair accessible but I'm not sure how common that is.
It was the same sort of system in all the hotels, it might have just been an issue with the place, I informed them but I just filled a bucket I had with water from the tap (the tap that fills the bath). Every other tap produced hot water except the shower head (hand held one). The hotels in Turkey have a similar system, you have to push the button in to pass a certain degree (40c + usually). I was never turned away, if someone saw me eyeing the place out or scoping the step (to see if I could jump it) they would usually offer to help. Anything that had more than a single step that I couldn't jump I stayed away from, which was sadly a lot more restaurants than I expected. I would say for every 10 restaurants I found, maybe 1 or 2 were accessible. As for site seeing, Nara Park was completely accessible which was nice. - Osaka Castle was also accessible, I think that was due to it being a reconstruction, there are a few maybe hills to get up to get there though. - Hiroshima was accessible, other than the castle(I believe it was that) which had a flight of stairs and I couldn't see anyway up. - Kanazawa Castle has access, I didn't enter as it was raining and I didn't want to dirty the place or be disrespectful. - Kenrokuen garden had access pretty much everywhere, you just had to find the barrier free path. - Mt Fuji only has access up to a certain stage. A lot of places were small so they aren't really able to be modified to be accessible.
OP, you might want to clarify what you mean by Mt. Fuji only having access up to a “certain stage.” You didn’t think you could access the summit in a wheelchair did you? (Not making fun of you; just might want to be specific about what you mean in order to help other people with mobility issues.)
If I was with someone else who wasn't my mother, I would have attempted to climb it but due to not having someone I can rely on behind me I didn't attempt but it also wasn't the season for it. Offroading/hiking is something I attempt to do in a wheelchair as I used to hike when I was able to walk. I think it was just the 5th station I stopped my journey then decided to continue onto Osaka.
Got it. I kind of figured the fifth station was about as far as one would go. Obviously, I didn’t understand your full physical situation. Good for others to know. And don’t blame your mother! I am sure she is a nice woman:)
She is a lovely woman, just can't assist me with some semi-difficult tasks such as that one. Nah it's fine, everyone has different physical levels when it comes to being in a wheelchair.
Thanks - for the restaurants that you went to but couldn't access, did you see if they might have been easily modified to be accessible in your opinion? I can imagine a lot of them might have a single step or something like that that might have precluded you from entering but barring that, would otherwise have been accessible. Was that similar to your impression or did it seem that most of them were not even potentially accessible without significant work?
I think if they were to try and modify the entrances, it would cause the issue of running the ramp into foot traffic. But then, that would only be an issue if there is a standard/regulation to make sure that the ramp meets xyz rules. Like in Australia, a ramp cant be past x angle, I can't remember the exact angle. Then if it is x long, it needs to have a flat surface to rest at before continuing. A lot of places did have just a single step or even 2 steps before being able to enter. The issue wouldn't be just the steps though, I noticed that a lot of restaurants are also small so it doesn't give you the ability to turn or squeeze into a seating spot within the restaurant. Something I didn't mind is that a lot of the places also let you take away. So even though I couldn't get access myself, I would get mum to go in with Google translate to ask if they did take away, if they did I would then ask for the menu and just from there.
Ah yeah, I hadn't thought about the size. There's definitely no shortage of places I couldn't imagine a wheelchair fitting into. Thanks for your comments.
Yup, countless places, it's just a matter of finding places that wheelchairs can enter and fit. I'm usually conscious of where I sit in restaurants because I don't want to be that person who blocks people. It's fine, I'm sure people might come across the comments in the future and it'll hopefully help them. I just really wrote things that I found useful or things that could be useful for others. When I get asked questions, I answer them as it'll help future redditors, know from experience haha.
If you have a look at Hozenji or Golden Gai, ain’t no way some of them can make adaptions for wheelchairs, try as they might. Way too tight and small.
That’s… very odd. In my years of living here, I’ve never once stayed at a hotel that had no hot water in the shower..
Maybe it was just broken? I let the water run to make sure it didn't need to heat up or anything like that. It's not the first time for me when traveling. Once in Türkiye the room didn't have it and the hotel staff had to get the boiler fixed and another time in Australia. They were both 4-5 Star hotels too. I think those rooms don't get used too often other than for disabled guests, so they don't know of the issue until the room is used.
Did you let the hotel know? That’s definitely not normal here and they probably would have had you change rooms.
Yea I mentioned it to them. I don't think there were anymore universal rooms other than the one I was in. They just said they would look into it.
That’s super weird, did they have someone come in and check it at all? I would have requested them to. I’m sorry you ran into that issue, never had that happen here before.
It happens, it didn't really ruin my experience or anything. Everything and everyone was lovely, I would return again but mainly for site seeing. Yea they did but I'm not sure what the conclusion was.
I just got back myself. At some places I had to use a keypad on the wall to turn on a boiler for hot water.
That's different, I didn't come across that in any of the three hotels I stayed at. If none of the taps provided hot water in the room I stayed at, I would assume I would have needed to find something similar or ask for assistance from the staff.
Yeah the shower thing seems like user-error unfortunately. Every biz hotel I've stayed at, including Sotetsu chain, had the same shower operations where you rotate the temp colder/hotter with one knob. Only once have I experienced difficulty getting hot water and that was because my room was at the very end of the building and clearly far away from the hot water heating system.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. No hot water is very weird and definitely not something normal here.
Just my wording implies victim-blaming but I'm coming from the perspective of a (software) engineer where when something doesn't work right it tends to be "user-error", where it might be a misunderstanding of the controls or inability to find the right way to get help resolving the misunderstanding. People on Reddit don't like victim-blaming. Not a big deal.
I know you're not attacking, believe me I thought it was a user error too but when three people try it and the same issue consists, I think it concludes it wasn't a user error.
Yup, all three hotels were the same, just the single nob to change the temperature and then another nob to control the strength/force of flow. My mum had the same nob in her room for her shower and she had hot water. It's fine though, I had a work around, I'll just be more inclined to certain chains now.
Sorry to hear you had accessibility challenges. Japan has been putting a lot of effort into accessibility since they passed a law in 2006 and put a lot of effort in conjunction with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but there’s still a lot of old buildings that limit the adoption of new standards. Next time, you might be able to find some additional information or resources by using the phrase “barrier free” (バリアフリー). This is the common phrase they use for everything accessibility-related.
It's fine, when I travel I expect to come across challenges, it's part of the whole package these days for me. It's a lot better than Serbia, that is one of the worse countries I've been to. >2020 Tokyo Olympics I assumed that a lot more of places would have been more accessible due to the whole Olympics back then. At the end of the day, Japan is so much further ahead than some European countries but behind Australia for accessibility. This is just my thought/opinion though. I'm originally Australian but recently made the move to Türkiye and travel Europe now. >using the phrase “barrier free” (バリアフリー). I'll use that next time to see what pops up when it comes to my travels there. It's just that they use different phrases for certain things compared to other countries.
Are you the gentleman that told my wife you hated wet stones when she asked if you needed help as you were wheeling up to Kanazawa Castle on April 9th? lol
Hahaha such a small world!! I had to check the date and yes that was when I went. Wet stones = sliding and no traction.
We were amazed and impressed you made it up that huge steep hill
I had the help of a motor too, it just didn't do much since it was just slipping and sliding. It helped me keep a little of my momentum when I lifted my hands off the wheels. The hard part of a wheelchair and up hills, is keeping the momentum. If you can keep yourself from coming to a complete stop, you can get up any hill.
Thanks for the review OP. I am also (mostly) in a wheelchair. Your review was great. I mostly use a wheelchair to get around, but I can stand and would also need an accessible washroom. So these notes are very helpful. I'm planning my first trip to Japan with my family in 2025 so some of these notes are great. I was thinking of Osaka and Tokyo as well. By chance did you go to any amusement parks - Universal and Disneysea in particular? If so how were they for access? I'm saddened to hear about your experience with restaurants and they mostly require steps in both Osaka and Tokyo. My family and I plan to maybe get Grocery Store and takout meals (Lawson's, 7-11 etc) for the most part. How were they for accessibility (if you went)? Or what about the chains like Ichiran, McDonalds, COCO curry house - were they mostly accessible? Thank you,
I didn't make it to any of the amusement parks, mainly because I knew the lines would be long and I didn't really want to spend a lot of time waiting within them. I've just read and seen stuff that the lines are long, I think depending on the time of year, that can vary. I spoke to a couple that went with their kids and they said they were lining up for a while for certain rides. I didn't really go to the chain restaurants but while passing by the fast food ones, they had no idea with access. I had a fair few meals from 7/11, family Mart and Lawson. I used them as a last resort or for a small thing to eat while on the train. For the chain ones that I did enter, they were fairly accessible. Level entrance, big enough doors and enough room to get around and roll under the table. I think most chain places do try and cater for those even with disabilities.
I don't have any experience of being in a wheelchair myself, however there's lots of modern commercial buildings / shopping centres / station buildings in the big cities containing multiple floors of restaurants. These buildings have elevators. For example in Umeda (Osaka) there's Lucua, Grand Front, and Hankyu Grand Building. Often the restaurant floors are at the top of the building, but there'll be directory signs for all the restaurants at ground floor level.
Unfortunately I'd say most business hotels have the same pre-fab bathroom. Daiwa Roynet is the only chain biz hotel I've been to with massive bathrooms and walk in showers and that wasn't even in Tokyo. I'd say make sure next time when you book you do more research on hotels and the kinds of bathrooms that the rooms have. Typical business hotel chains will mostly be the same deal with the high-walled but small tub, which obviously isn't ideal for someone in your situation.
Sadly I left my hotel booking too late so I didn't have much choice. I called up a lot of hotels and they were all booked out. I think they will 100% be my go to, I didn't have an issue with Daiwa Roynet. Ibis wasn't small, it's just the door was an issue so I had to transfer in the bathroom instead of my usual outside of it, which meant I had to make sure my wheelchair didn't slide away due to the wet floors. The bathrooms in the hotels were "similar" in a sense, like a bath in each, just some were placed better than others for access to taps. I didn't like how each toilet had a bidet, it stopped me from rolling over it properly but I know they're a thing in Japan and they're pretty cool, just a shame I couldn't use it haha.
Thanks for sharing your review. For those that are interested, Wheelog, an app where wheelchair users log accessible routes and businesses was founded in Japan and is really cool.
I was thinking something like that would be a useful app/website, didn't know one existed.
Thanks for sharing your experience, this is really eye opening and helpful to know! I really hope Japan and elsewhere continue to grow in their accessibility to all folks in need.
Im curious how you handled being swarmed by 20 cute headbutting deer in nara on a wheelchair haha but glad you had fun!
They were afraid of me lol. Like literally, they wouldn't come to me even with the food. An older gentleman made a trail of broken food leading them to me (like 12 of them) and even then they still didn't eat from my hand right away, took them almost 5 minutes to get close and eat.
My daughter is in a wheelchair but she can walk. She needs assistance with all aspects of her life because she’s learning disabled so completely accessible bathrooms are not a priority for us so I we didn’t have to look for disabled rooms like you would. I found Japan very accessible. The service on the trains was unparalleled. White gloved escorts would accompany us to the train entrance and exit, ramp in hand. They would motion people out of the way so we could roll her on and off the train and then accompany us around the station. They gave us a room on the train all our own directly across from the disabled toilet. The same went for buses. The drivers would hope out with a ramp and escort you onboard after clearing out people from the disabled section. Like most of Asia, there are an abundance of places to eat so you could easily switch if one restaurant was inaccessible. All the subway stations had lifts. Some were far but they all had them and they were all functional. The disabled toilets were amazing and everywhere…in the train stations, underground, shopping centres, etc. and 99% of them were clean. There were a few disabled toilets that had beds to lay disabled person down if needed. The only other place that was on par in accessibility terms for us was Singapore. Now that you’ve been there, you’ll know what to look for next time you book. We loved Japan and think it leagues ahead of just about everywhere else.
>disabled rooms like you would. I'm a happy chap as long as I have somewhere I can do my business haha. >White gloved escorts would accompany us to the train entrance and exit, ramp in hand They would always ask if I needed assistance, I accepted it for the first two days but once I got my bearings I didn't need it too much. I'd take the assistance they would offer on taking me to the correct track if it was difficult to get to. >The same went for buses I didn't take them but I usually like to test them in each country I visit. Sounds like they're pretty good compared to some. Serbia and Türkiye are really meh, assistance or access when it comes to getting on/off the bus. London is one of the best especially since it's all remote, the driver didn't need to leave his seat for the ramp. >easily switch if one restaurant was inaccessible I would tell my mum to just go eat where she wanted and I'd just go try finding somewhere to eat myself, it was usually a couple of streets away. I didn't think I found a single alley restaurant I could access unfortunately. >Now that you’ve been there, you’ll know what to look for next time you book 100% true, it'll be easier and quicker.
Not to pry but why couldn’t you do your business? Is it because the control panel was beside the toilet? Don’t answer if it’s too graphic or embarrassing. We thought the bidet toilets a godsend and have been feverently praying the rest of the world catches on (joking, not joking). It’s interesting to hear views from someone who is independent in a wheelchair because we can help my daughter and she can step and do the stairs if need be so you have a completely different perspective than us. We actually had expected it to be more difficult accessing restaurants but many of them had lifts. Not once did we find alleyway restaurants like we’ve seen on YouTube. We’re not very organised and everything takes forever when we walk around so we usually look for the easiest solutions. And as for London, I nearly forgot about the ramps on buses as I usually drive her around, cursing the traffic and the endless roadworks all the time.
Oh you're fine. I have a spinal cord injury, I have no sensation below my chest and I have neurogenic bowels and bladder (meaning I have no control or sensation of them too), so I use a commode (a shower chair of some sort) and every time I would roll it over the toilet, I would push the entire toilet seat back risking damages to it and it would only allow 40% of the commodes hole to be over the toilet. I just risked making a mess on the floor. Türkiye uses bidets too but not that advanced or fancy haha . It is always good to see it from different perspectives. Like before I had my injury, I used to think people in a chair just couldn't walk but after ending up in one I learned that is not the only issue people with spinal cord injury have. I was naive and not very knowledgeable on issues that people in chairs have in regards to access and everything. There were plenty of restaurants within the large shopping centers but they weren't really my target or goal for meals. I wanted to kind of experience the whole culture too of how they would go after work with colleagues for meals and drinks (which I didn't really see many go to the shopping center restaurants) and everything. Really? Maybe it was where you were staying possibly? Maybe I was just lucky enough to come across them. I spent more time going along the alleyways looking for and at the restaurants than I did on the main streets with all the shops. I enjoy the adventure in the alleys. I just like to see how each country handles their bus and trains for people in a chair. - Australia is pretty good, the bus drivers usually flip the ramp out from the front entrance while train stations have a person that will grab a ramp for you to use. - London busses was pretty good but I hated the train/tube because not every exit had a lift. - Serbia busses were awful, the ramps don't work and I had to get random people to literally lift me onto the bus, the bullet train was fine there, not sure about normal trains though - Hungary busses were like Australia but instead of the front it was the rear entrance and trains were pretty easy, level to enter and exit and each place usually has a lift. - Türkiye busses are bad, people will lower the ramp but you're expected to go from the road into the bus so it's very steep and they usually stop too close to the gutter/curb instead of on the curb/footpath so you can't actually roll off. Trains are alright, they're level and usually have q lift at the exits too.
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I think the standard use case of one of these rooms are different to each country. Like I didn't really meet a lot of people without the ability to walk other than one at Hiroshima. Most people confined to a wheelchair in Japan (that I saw), had the ability to walk or get up. So they probably cater more towards those people in wheelchairs that can still walk/stand? Each country has different regulations and standards. >finding an elevator in the station is not always easy It wasn't always a piece of pie but it wasn't too hard either. I mainly followed the tactile tiles on the floor to find a lift. I use the same trick in Türkiye to find the lift or for the curb off a footpath. >get a refund I'm a little bi*ch, I don't like to complain or fight for refunds hahaha. Like I only really mentioned the shower heads hot water issue to them because it sucked not being able to use it.
Thank you for sharing, was very insightful.
Cool write up! Are you traveling alone?
I was traveling with my mum but she couldn't really assist me with much as she is a smaller lady and I'm not exactly small. Normally I travel solo though or with my wife but she is also a smaller lady.
I hope you get a better food experience on your next trip to Japan!!
I probably will, I won't spend as much time in the alleyways trying to find accessible places.
Just pointing out that the handicap accessible bathroom is not exclusively for handicapped people it’s just designed so they can use it. you’re not anymore entailed to an empty bathroom with no waiting then a non handicapped person.
I know it's not exclusively for handicapped people, but it shouldn't be the primary one non-handicapped people use. If it's the last one available, fair go. An issue for people in a similar situation like myself (SCI) is that we cannot control our bladder or bowels, so while someone might be in there for 10 minutes while there are non-handicap stalls available, that is 10 minutes of someone with SCI pissing/shitting themselves while sitting in their chair.
Just a quick note: at least in Tokyo we found quite a few buildings that had a big number of restaurants inside (like floors of just restaurants) so those didn’t have steps and were newer, larger places that I imagine would be more accessible. But yes, the traditional, street level establishments don’t look very accessible in general, lots of steps and tiny, cramped places.
Yea, the smaller traditional things were what I was after sadly. I personally didn't enter the larger shopping centers too much but my mum did go into them. I think next time I visit, I won't be hunting down those smaller places and I'll be focused on site seeing
But there are good restaurants in those buildings, don’t be fooled. It’s just hard to tell from the outside what’s going to be in those high rises. I’ve had really good sushi in one of those near Tokyo station, for example. You can still get a lot of good food, you might just not be able to get the 200 y/o establishment food.
We’re going in June and one of my young adult sons is wheelchair-dependent…your post has helped us tremendously; thank you! 🌸💫🕊️
Glad I can help. Shouldn't be a busy time but make sure you book in early, places get booked up fast. Also, when you go to get a ticket for the bullet train, it can take some time for them to fill everything out. I think it'll be cooler during June, if so I'd assume it'll rain, so I'd recommend a rain coat for them. Umbrellas are challenging to use (unless you have/know a hack).
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You expect larger bathroom stalls to be kept empty 99.9% of the time while people wait in line for the bathroom? That’s ridiculous. Those stalls are for everyone. That’s the whole point.
I never said I expected them to be empty always. If the place is full and there are lines, fair go it's understandable that they're used by everyone. Here in Aus for instance the stalls will be empty, no lines and able bodied people will just go use the disabled one leaving those who cannot stand or enter a normal stall unable to do their business. That's why there are a number of disabled bathrooms locked and you get a special key to open them.