Any one been to Himakajima? (Aichi Prefecture)
Any one been to Himakajima? (Aichi Prefecture)
This is a bit of a long shot, but has any one been to Himakajima? (small island in Aichi Prefecture connected with short ferry ride from the mainland)
I’m looking for info about wheelchair accessible facilities, such as toilets, on the island. I’m with a small group of wheelchair users who want to go for a day trip as walk on (roll on:)) passengers on the ferry without a vehicle. The main purpose is to eat some octopus (one of the island’s famous foods) and enjoy the slower pace of island life for a few hours before retiring to the mainland.
Thanks in advance.
- 9 Replies
You certainly are heading into unknown territory! Bmaps doesn’t even have any reviews yet: Bmaps
Looking at the ferry, since there is a ramp for cars, it should be possible to get on in a wheelchair physically. They also say there is an accessible toilet and stair lift on the Shimayuri Car Ferry (http://www.meikaijo.co.jp/guide.html, top picture). So, getting there should be fine!
There seem to be a few businesses with ramps in front of them:
- Taikairou Higashi-ten
- Oide-ya
Toilets… that maaay be a problem. As mentioned above, there is one on the ferry. There are a few public toilets on the beach, but none have an obvious wheelchair accessibility mark that can be seen in Google Street View. Your best option would be contacting the restaurants above or asking to use the toilet at one of the following inns:
- Suzuya-Kaiyutei (1st floor, mention accessible toilet near the bottom of the page, http://www.suzuya-kaiyutei.com/room.html)
- Taikairou (have a single bathroom on first floor but may not be accessible, http://www.taikairou.jp/kannai.htm)
I’m not sure if they speak English, but I would try contacting the Himakajima Tourism Board:
- TEL: 0569-68-2388 FAX: 0569-68-2683 Mail: [email protected]
Hope you can enjoy the island!
If you go, please share how it was with everyone else so we know for next time!
Thank you Accessible Japan!
You went out of your way looking for toilets on Himakajima. I will try the tourist board or local government to see if I can get some more information. Thanks for the introduction to Bmaps too.
I should start a new topic for this, but last week we went to Sakushima, an island next door to Himakajima in Aichi Prefecture. We went without much prior knowledge or research regarding wheelchair accessibility, but were pleasantly surprised. The island is known for its pubic art displays and vast majority of artworks were accessible and enjoyable. There were at least 2 accessible toilets on the walking route. Anyway, that got us talking to friends and now a whole group of wheelchair users want to visit Himakajima Island, which led to my question above.
Hi!
Glad it was helpful ?
Bmaps is great, but limited by user-base. So it is much less useful in the country-side. Please do register for it and be the first to submit some info about Hamakajima on it!
As for the other island, yes that would be great if you added another thread when you have a chance ?
An update. I contacted the local government and there are no public accessible toilets on Himakajima Island currently.
They are planning to build public toilet facilities at the west ferry dock this fiscal year (by end of March 2019), including an accessible toilet.
Oh no! While I guess it is good that they are at least thinking about it…
Will you give it a pass this year, or try using one at an inn? If you do go, please tell us what your solution was!
Yes, good that improvements are being made.
We might still go this month, but maybe not the whole group, or maybe shorten the trip to a couple of hours. I’ll let you know how it goes.
An update. We were this close to visiting Himakajima last weekend, but to no avail.
Unfortunately, despite contacting the ferry and arranging for 8 wheelchair users to have a place on the boat, we were foiled by lack of parking at the ferry terminal due to the Golden Week holidays in Japan. This is a problem for all tourists, but made particularly more difficult for those with mobility difficulties. There is an over-flow parking area several kilometers away but the bus connecting the over-flow parking area and the ferry terminal is not wheelchair accessible so we were out of luck. We will try again in the off season. (and maybe the accessible toilet on the island will be built by then??)
Oh no! I hope you didn’t travel too far only to turn around (T_T)
We only found out about the parking problem once we arrived at the ferry terminal, but managed to make a day out of it on the “mainland” anyway. In the end we enjoyed a seafood lunch, tasting at a rice cracker manufacturer, and then poking around at an old beer factory. Not all was lost.
Be forewarned about crowds during Japanese Golden Week (from last weekend in April to first weekend in May). A lesson learned.
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