Disability News Japan Podcast: Are Japan’s Train Stations Going to Become an Empire of QR Codes?

From Barrier Free Japan

January 15 2024

JAPAN – For a break from ‘earthquake news’, Barrier Free Japan talks about the prevalence of ‘QR codes’ at train stations in Japan and how this might affect accessibility.

On September 9th 2020, Kyodo, reprinted in The Japan Times reported that:

“East Japan Railway Co. on Wednesday began testing new ticket gates in Tokyo that can be accessed using QR codes to make travel smoother for those without its Suica IC prepaid travel cards such as overseas tourists or visitors from rural regions.

The two new gates, tested in Shinjuku Station, utilize a QR code scanner which is twice as large as existing QR scanners developed by Denso Wave Inc.

It can read a code downloaded via a smartphone or printed on paper 1.5 times faster than the existing system, according to the railway operator known as JR East.”

The question is, will the increasing use of QR codes make it more difficult for some in Japan to use the railway?