Work in Progress to Make Train Rides in Japan Barrier-Free
Japanese railway operators are accelerating efforts to allow people on wheelchairs to take a train without the help of station staff members.
Category: Barrier Free
Tokyo Paralympics organisers opens wheelchair, prosthetic limb repair centre in Games village
The organisers said about 100 staff will provide repair and maintenance services at the centre as well as in booths at 14 competition venues. Services will include tyre replacements and welding repairs on wheelchairs.
The steps at JR Ochanomizu station are “scary”, say visually impaired people upon inspecting the platform
Members of the All Japan Council for the Visually Impaired, a group of visually impaired people, have inspected the dangers of JR Ochanomizu Station (Chiyoda Ward) and Yoyogi Station (Shibuya Ward), both of which have steps on the platform. At Ochanomizu Station, which does not have a platform door, they believe that people could fall off the platform.
Japan’s Robotics Market for Medical Purposes Booming amid Pandemic
Japan’s robotics market is booming thanks to the need to avoid in-person contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Touring ‘Barrier Free’ Tokyo with Japanese Paralympian Kazumi Nakayama
Having a guided a tour around Shibuya Ward, Tokyo in mid-November 2017, with the athlete Kazumi Nakayama, a Track and Field Paralympian at the Rio 2016 Games – was an instructive experience.
Japan’s train fare prices may rise to pay for accessibility improvements
Using the train in Japan is likely to cost a little bit more as Japan’s transport ministry is considering to charge more to help improve accessibility at railway stations.
‘Reasonable accommodation’ to be made mandatory in Japan’s private sector to eliminate discrimination against disabled
On 28 May, the revised Disability Discrimination Act was unanimously passed by the House of Councillors at a plenary session, requiring private companies to provide “reasonable accommodation” to support the mobility and communication of people with disabilities. The government will now consider the fundamental policy based on the revised law and make a cabinet decision.
Wheelchair using physician supports accessible stadiums through Twitter
“Sports venues are places where people with and without disabilities can come together and enjoy [an event],” Yukishita said. “I want the Games to be the catalyst to bring about change, so people with disabilities will feel more comfortable going out more often.”
Toshima becomes the first Tokyo ward to adopt the ‘shikAI’ audio description App to aid visually impaired
In April, the app “shikAI” that supports the movement of visually impaired people about 200 meters between the exit of Tokyo Metro Higashi-Ikebukuro Station (Higashi-Ikebukuro 4) and the ward office (Minami-Ikebukuro 2) “started to provide voice route guidance.”
Fifty Japanese companies join ‘The Valuable 500’ list that aims to boost disability inclusion in business
Fifty companies from Japan are participating, including Kao Corporation, Suntory Holdings Limited, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Limited and the Tokyo headquarters of the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Barrier Free Japan 