Wheelchair User Denied Accessible Seating at Tokyo Cinema Raises Concern as Japan’s Barrier Free Laws Change in April

By Barrier Free Japan

March 21 2024

TOKYO – An incident took place at a cinema in Tokyo, which is usually used by a woman in a wheelchair. TBS reported that: “The woman watched the movie not from the wheelchair-only space, but from a reclining seat with four steps.”

The woman paid an additional fee and watched the movie in a reclining seat, rather than in the wheelchair-only space.

According to the woman who uses a wheelchair, a staff member who appeared to be the manager came to her and told her this: “As you can see, this theater is dangerous because of the steps, and the staff who can help you don’t have that much time.”

As the revised laws in Japan regarding people with disabilities are about to come into effect, the incident at the cinema in Tokyo highlights how businesses may be unprepared. The revised version of the ‘Act for the Elimination of Discrimination Against People with Disabilities’ will be active on the statute books from April 1st 2024. That law mandates that both the central and local governments, along with business operators, provide reasonable consideration to people with disabilities.