おはようトラベル Hello I am Yen, Ohatra accessible travel navigator. I will be researching on the information available for accessible Japan and publishing it online here for those who need special care with a strong desire to visit Japan.
Japan, the land of the rising sun, a country where the old meets the new. With futuristic technologies and thousand old cultures, Japan never fails to delight any tourist who is seeking for the perfect holiday. In a series of articles, we aim to bring to you information on accessibility for those with special needs around the Kanto Region, Japan. Our first stop will be Tokyo, the capital of Japan. With the next Olympics due to be held at Tokyo, the city has upgraded its facilities for it to be more accessible and the following are some useful websites:
- Accessible Tokyo
A site set up by the Japanese Red Cross Language Service Volunteers, this website provides Tokyo travel tips for wheelchair users. The website is easy to navigate whereby you can search according to the different areas within Tokyo or you can search based on your purpose of visit (sightseeing, shopping, park etc). There is a simple introduction for each of the tourist spots and a summary of the terrain as well as the facilities for wheelchair users. All major train stations’ accessibility for wheelchair users are also available on the website.
Certain main tourists’ spots will even have recommended route (wheelchair accessible route) provided.
Another great thing about this website is that there are blogs with photos of the actual conditions at the site. Not only do these bloggers report the actual accessibility of the site, they include their experience and suggestions for improvements of the facilities provided.
- Tokyo Tourist Information
As the name suggests, besides providing basic tourist information on Tokyo, this website is easy to navigate and a major plus point of this website is that you can search for information on tourists spots based on the services you require.
https://tokyotouristinfo.com/en
You would be able to search for the full list of sites that have accessible facilities for the disabled by filtering according to the [Accessible facility for disabled people] icon below.
The full list of sites that offer the facilities will be shown.
The website is available in English, Chinese and Korean.
- Hato Bus
This bus company offers tours around Tokyo and the nearby cities such as Yokohama. There are also tours in English and they can also cater to those with special needs. You need to inform them upon reservation ifyou require special care and you are required to have someone to accompany you throughout the tours (for the wheelchair bound, vision impairment and hearing impairment).
https://www.hatobus.com/int/en
https://www.hatobus.co.jp/dom/guide/handicap.html/
to be continued…
