Scanning Errors: QR Codes Encroach on Barrier Free Travel in Japan

By Barrier Free Japan

January 28 2024

KOBE – The photograph shows my local train station in Kobe. The station itself is quite accessible to a person with disabilities like myself, there are two elevators for wheelchairs users and escalators that go in all directions – not always a given, some stations have an escalator going one way, to or from the entrance to the station but the other way there will be one of those ‘old fashioned staircases’ without those fancy electric and mechanical components – not here, in terms of the physics, getting from the entrance to to the station to the platform is very easy, truly barrier free.

However, there is one small problem when one enters the station, because those who enter the station, enter what I like to call an ‘empire of QR codes’.

We shall put aside the issue that some people whether disabled or not, may not be able to afford a smartphone and it also assumes that there is good cellular or WIFI signal, in a country where damage from earthquakes and typhoons can disrupt the communications infrastructure, good signal isn’t always assumed, as the primary issue I wish to highlight here concerns people with disabilities.

If you want to know where and when the trains are arriving or departing at this station, the quickest – and possibly the only way of finding out – is by scanning the QR code on posters, which are coincidentally right next to the entrance/exit to the elevator. You can see on the monitors when the next train will depart, but if you want to know when future trains will depart, you have to scan the QR code on the poster. There used to be signage with times and even little paper booklets, but now the QR code is seemingly the guardian of the gate when it comes to train times, only by scanning the code, thereby offering a technological equivalent of saying ‘shibboleth’ will you become one the select few chosen people who can know the times that trains depart and arrive.

And it is not just about QR codes. ‘Japan Inc’ is making a lot of moves to use technology at railway stations. For example, 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.”

Then there are the moves in Japan promoting ‘unmanned stations’, which many disability activist groups in Japan oppose. As early as 20th November 2019, disability groups in Kyushu, specifically disability groups in Oita Prefecture had concerns about ‘unmanned stations’, although protest rallies were held as long ago as late September 2018. In November 2019, it was reported that a“civic group made up of people with disabilities and supporters will file a lawsuit seeking compensation from the Oita District Court.”  Since 2020, more wheelchair users and other parties have filed numerous lawsuits with the Oita District Court, claiming that their constitutionally protected right to freedom of movement is being infringed.

‘But isn’t that ok, maybe even accessible’ I hear you say? You have a smartphone, you obviously know how to use it, just scan the code. and I do have a smartphone, but I also have a physical disability, I find it difficult to hold my body still for a lengthy period of time because it spasms, it took me more than ten minutes to take this photo, imagine how much time it would take for me to scan a QR code.