Japan makes moves to deregulate usage of electric scooters and delivery robots
Currently, electric kickboards are classified as motorized bicycles, which can only be ridden on roads and require a driver’s license.
Category: Barrier Free
Disabled passengers in Japan left disconnected in age of digital smart card use
An advocacy group that supports disabled residents in Chiba, east of Tokyo, says the lack of smart cards with discount fares for disabled residents and carers on any lines in the Kanto region adds significantly to travel time.
Being refused boarding on Japan Railway trains debate: Wheelchair using comedian Hawking Aoyama sees it this way
“I think that if you use a method like exercising your strength, it will not be understood by people with disabilities, but it will not lead to repulsion. Is it really good for other people with disabilities?”
Wheelchair user describes being denied access to JR train, faces backlash for being ‘selfish’
In a recent blog post entitled ‘Wheelchairs were denied boarding at JR’, the disability activist and writer, Natsuko Izena describes not being allowed to board a JR station, something that she describes as “a common occurrence for wheelchair users in this day and age.”
A new service in Nagano for wheelchairs and caregivers for people with disabilities
The voluntary organization “Minami Shinshu Outing Team” With “” created by the Achi Hirugami Tourist Bureau in Chisato Achi Village and “Kafune Nursing” in the north of Iida City rents and assists wheelchairs equipped with the towing assistance device “JINRIKI”.
Oita Prefecture City promotes independence for people with disabilities through vending machines selling sweet baked potatoes
The work of filling the cans, replenishing the product line, and collecting empty cans is done by disabled people who use the Nanohana Club (Usuki City) of the Oita Kenan Regional Welfare Office.
Hyogo Prefecture city produces CD explaining how to use JR platform fences to visually impaired people
The City of Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, has produced a CD teaching material to help the visually impaired learn about the platform fences installed at JR Akashi Station and other stations. The CD explains the procedure of walking through the station with a visually impaired person and getting on a train. It also includes an interview with a JR West employee and his impressions of the platform fence.
Japan has a train ‘chicken or egg’ problem
An average of about 100 people a day… This is the number of people who use wheelchair seats on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
Japanese disabled lawmakers vote in person for first time due to ramp installation
On March 26, during a session on the budget, Japanese lawmakers with disabilities were able to cast a vote in person owing to a ramp that had been built in the House of Councillors in January. This was the first time in history a lawmaker with a disability could vote in person, before it had to be done via a House of Councillors staff member.
Survey conducted by Japanese newspaper reveals 80% of traffic signals to aid the blind turned off due to noise complaints
A survey conducted by the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Shimbun that more than 80% of Japan’s accessible pedestrian signals, traffic lights that also produce sounds to let pedestrians with visual impairments know when it’s safe to cross the road, have their noise-making function muted for at least part of the day, the newspaper’s survey of the country’s 47 prefectural police forces has found.
