Category: Travel

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 25, 2021 1
Barrier Free Japan Travel Unmanned Stations

Drivers and conductors to assist wheelchair users at Japan’s ‘unmanned stations’, draft report suggests

On the 24th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism compiled a draft barrier-free measure to enable people with disabilities to get on and off smoothly at unmanned stations. If it is not possible to assign a staff member to assist wheelchair users in advance, the main suggestion is for drivers and conductors to get off the train and assist. Specific guidelines are to be established within the year.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 6, 2021 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Japan Paralympics Tourism Travel

In preparation for the ultimately spectator-less Paralympics, Japan’s hotels made efforts toward more accessible facilities

Hotel Kazusaya in Nihombashi, Tokyo, reopened in summer last year following a major refurbishment carried out in sync with the original schedule of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The doorways of its guest rooms have been resized to 85 centimeters wide. At the stage of planning, the doorway width was set at 75 centimeters. But in 2019, the Tokyo metropolitan government amended its relevant ordinance for hotels. Under the new standard, the doorways of rooms in newly built hotels or newly added facilities must be “a minimum of 80 centimeters in breadth,” so that wheelchairs can get through the doorway easily.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt July 24, 2021 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Blind Disability Japan Travel

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.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt June 10, 2021 Number of comments0
Disability Japan Travel

Discounts for disabled with “Suica” and “PASMO” cards to start in the second half of 2022 in the Kanto region of Japan without need to show a ‘disability certificate’

In order to make it easier for people with disabilities to use the system, a council made up of 69 railway and bus operators in the Kanto region and elsewhere has announced that from the second half of next year people will be able to use Suica and PASMO to receive discounts without having to show their disability certificate.