Advice about travelling with some mobility issues in Japan
Advice about travelling with some mobility issues in Japan
My mother is 80 and has a bad knee. She walks with a cane but obviously she cannot walk fast or long distances or do stairs easily. But she does manage slowly. She has given up on the idea of travelling because she doesn’t want to hold us up.
I am currently planning a trip to Japan with my 2 sons (young adults in their 20’s) and would really want to take my mum with us.
We are thinking of renting out a wheelchair but she has never used a wheelchair/scooter and doesn’t drive.
Destinations that caught our eye until now are : Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kanazawa, Takayama, Tsumago, Shirakawa-go, Kyoto, Osaka.
Tour operators are trying to discourage us from taking her saying that even hotels don’t have lifts and she will not be allowed to stay on the bus when we have to walk and she cannot.
We would be fine with independent travelling and a bit worried about transfers to and from train stations and lugging our luggage and a wheelchair 🙁
Given we have never used a wheelchair before, can you please advise on the type of wheelchair to rent? I saw a Whilll model F on the internet. Would that be ok?
Can you also advise which of these destinations are not really for her at all because of lack of accessibility?
Thank you ever so much for your help
- 16 Replies
I’m sort of answering your question sideways, but: there are services in Japan that you can pay to deliver your luggage so that you don’t have to deal with it all yourself! It’s obviously more expensive, so that’s a trade off.
There are also coin lockers at many train stations — my plan for my upcoming trip, since we’re flying in and out of Tokyo, is to use that as a sort of “base camp”. We’re going to downsize the luggage we take with us on the train, by stashing at least one bag in a locker, and then come back to our additional stuff when we come back into town.
A word of caution about the use of lockers. They are brilliant but you need to read the fine print carefully. They are intended as a short term storage facility, think hours, not days. You can only open the door once, to re-close requires another payment. Also most expire at a fixed time at night.
@Trish Hi Trish-san,
What a wonderful trip to Japan with your mother! We wish that you will be able to make it happen!
Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kanazawa, Takayama, Tsumago, Shirakawa-go, Kyoto, Osaka… I think many of the full-time wheelchair users who gather on this site have probably visited these places.
Of course, we also travel to these places with many full-time wheelchair users.
In terms of accessibility, Tokyo and Osaka are large cities where you can get to any sightseeing spot by local train or subway, but
other destinations can also be accessed comfortably by taxi or car charter. And many hotels have lifts.
Regarding wheelchair rental, the WHILL Model F is certainly as popular as you say! It’s also easy to operate.
As an additional idea, if your mother is not confident about operating a wheelchair, I thought that a type that you or your family can push along would also be good.
We can arrange official WHILL rentals at no extra fee, and we can also make suggestions to suit your needs and situation, so please feel free to ask us via direct message if you would like.
We hope your trip with your mother comes true!
Thank you for your kind words.
Oh I didn’t realise that the WHILL Model F would have to be operated by my mother herself. She will not be able to do so. What kind of model would allow us to push her?@Trish Hi Trish-san,
Wheelchairs that are pushed forward by a family member are called “carer controlled wheelchair”.
There are both electric ones (family operated) and those that are just manually pushed along, but if your sons are travelling with you, a simple manual wheelchair may be a good choice.
Multifunctional electric wheelchairs are heavy and may not fold up, so they may not be flexible when moving up stairs, escalators or riding on trains. If your mother can walk on her own, I think simple is best.
Having her grandchildren push her could be a great family memory?
Of course, we can arrange wheelchair rentals of all types, so please feel free to ask us.
Hi WTJ,
I have mobility issues and would love to visit Japan again. Do you plan itineraries for people with mobility issues?
Thank you,
Brian
@brian Hi Brian-san,
Yes, of course we are happy to assist you! Thank you for your request.
Please let us know your situation and preferences via direct message on tabifolk or via this email address. Thank you so much!
Hi Trish. What the tour operators are saying to you is untrue. I have just come back from nearly 4 weeks in Japan pushing my 25 year old daughter in a wheelchair (I am well over 70). She can walk about 10 yards but has significant spinal problems. We started in Matsue (not recommended because of the steps up to the castle) then went to Hiroshima, Himeji, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama, Matsumoto and Tokyo. I made all the travel arrangements myself (with the invaluable assistance of Wheelchair Travel for disabled train tickets) and only had one slight problem with one hotel. This was because although I told them about the wheelchair I mistakenly said that we didn’t need disabled facilities. When we checked in we found that there was an obstruction in the room which required the wheelchair to be dismantled to get it in so we had to upgrade the room.
I have travelled quite a bit in Japan both work and leisure and, barring traditional Ryokan have never seen an hotel without a lift. One big plus with hotels in Japan is that they have self service laundry facilities. This means you don’t have to carry so much clothing. Also hotel to hotel luggage delivery is a well established service.
If you want to contact me directly I can let you know more.
@Gofer I feel so much more reassured since you have had real-life experience. Thank you for offering to share more information about your trip. I would love to hear more.
Hi Maury,
Would you like to share your itinerary with me. My wife and I want to visit Japan again but with mobility issues, there are a lot of questions as to where we can visit.
Thank you,
Brian
Hi Trish,
I confirm that your travel agency is telling lies.
I’m an Belgian electric wheelchair user, and went 2 times in Japan.
This is the most wheelchair-friendly country I ever visited, and I used almost all the ways of travelling : metro, train, bus, adapted van, boat… You have to find hotels with a lift, but there are plenty of them, just check at https://www.accessible-japan.com/ for a short list.
There are a lot of elderly people in Japan, so everything is also easy for people having difficulties to walk.
I hope you will succeed in going there with your mother, and discover this fabulous contry.
Take care !@sdefreyne Thank you ever so much for your feedback. I was definitely disheartened when I saw this tour operator’s feedback. They were obviously not interested in our business.
I will definitely check the link you sent me.
Merci infiniment. Bonne soirée 🙂
May I trouble you with one more question?
I saw a post from a tour operator organising tours for wheelchair users that they may not be appropriate for people with mobility issues who can walk.Do you have recommendations of tour operators who, though not specialised in accessible travel, would be more sympathetic to my mum’s situation (i.e. she can walk short distances with a cane and happy to skip excursions that she cannot do)?
We realise that temples and shrines involve lots of walking and climbing. Since we do not view these as tourist attractions, we are quite happy to exclude these from our itinerary but unfortunately all tours seem to include them 🙁
Any advice as to what type of tour operators to turn to?
Hello.
I understand that you have various concerns. I will write it here as one way of thinking.
As others have written, your travel agency did not seem to provide much service to you. So why not go ahead and use people like us to make various arrangements for each area you want to visit? People who live in that area often know more. For example, you can base your tour of Mt. Fuji in Tokyo, and Kyoto in Osaka. (Hotel rates in Kyoto are very expensive.) Why don’t you carefully consider the places you really want to visit and make a travel plan? I will help you with that. (I have a tour conductor license.) As for wheelchairs, I also have a wheelchair with a reclining function in addition to a whill. Many historical buildings in Japan have many stairs made of large stones to give them dignity. However, many shrines and temples have voluntarily installed elevators and ramps in recent years, and the number of accessible places has increased. In areas where major historical buildings are scattered, such as Kyoto, I recommend arranging a taxi company that allows you to board in a wheelchair. They exist all over Japan. As for the “totally unsuitable tourist spots” you mentioned in your question, among the places you listed, Tsumago and Kanazawa might be the best. They’re both a bit far away, so I hope this helps.
Regards.
Tak
Hi Tak,
Can you forward me your contact information? I am in the very early stages of planning. I had an idea recently of staying at a hotel at the Haneda international airport and visiting places from there. Would you be able to help me with that in the future?
Thank you,
Brian
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