Category: Travel

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 21, 2023 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Japan Podcast Travel

Will the relaxed rules regarding e-scooters in Japan also apply to mobility scooters? | 日本でのeスクーターに関する規制緩和は、モビリティスクーターにも適用されるのでしょうか？

When preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japan Railways (JR), based on guidance from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport required that when at JR stations, mobility scooters:

“move at a speed no more than 2km/h and follow the instructions and warnings of the train attendant, and do not use routes other than the ones specified.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt August 23, 2022 Number of comments0
Disability Discrimination Japan Travel

“Your disability certificate is fake” bus driver in Japan refuses male passenger with a disability over possibly expired disability certificate

A 52-year-old male driver of Orihime Bus, a route bus in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, told a male passenger with a left leg and heart trouble to get off the bus early and said, “Your disability certificate is a fake,” according to an interview with the bus company Kiryu Asahi Jidosha and the city, which outsources its operation. According to the company, the driver had said that he had been given a disability certificate for six months.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 12, 2022 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Japan Travel Unmanned Stations

Unmanned Stations “not just about disabled people” say plaintiffs in JR Kyushu accessibility case

On February 10th, the Oita District Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by three wheelchair users in Oita City who claimed that they suffered from restrictions on their freedom of movement due to JR Kyushu’s decision to make its stations unmanned. The plaintiffs presented their views on JR Kyushu’s decision to make four new stations in the prefecture unmanned, and appealed to the court to “take a sincere look at its role as a public transportation system once again.