Skinkasen with wheelchair
Skinkasen with wheelchair
Hi guys, loving Tokyo. Like no other place in Asia I have been, incredible experience so far. I’m now looking to Book the shinkasen. I have the chair, but I am in and out of it no problem and can walk a decent amount. Can I just book a reserved ticket and keep the chair beside me? I’m not going to waste hours of my day trying to Book at the station as an accessible seat isn’t necessary.
Looking forward to your advice.
Also a typhoon may be due to hit
- 7 Replies
Hey, glad you’re loving Tokyo!
There really isn’t a lot of room to leave stuff (like a wheelchair), but in theory I guess if it folds you could leave it between the last row and the wall. And I have seen a few now with a very small rack/closed for baby carriages.
I have only ever used the accessible carriage and have a feeling that the doors in other carriages are smaller – and the only accessible toilet is in the accessible carriage – so I’d try to book that one if possible.
From what I understand, the accessible seat is blocked off from booking by regular users until a day or two beforehand. At that point you could buy it at one of the vending machines (if they are still available).
You could try booking with this if it is Tokaido Line: https://smart-ex.jp/en/reservation/reserve_smart/sp/
They have recently added English it appears. (Though there may be challenges with foreign credit cards).
Oh, I just checked the app and it now allows you to book accessible seats in English!
Can you please try it and tell us if it works?! (I feel a little unsure since my app is just the Japanese one, not the foreign one, and I have a Japanese credit card so I cannot answer from a truly traveler experience… if you can try and if it works I would really appreciate it!)
Thankyou Josh, you are a mine of information. We are now thinking Kamakura first before Kyoto. Whether that’s a good idea or not due to the weather. But I think we’ll give it a go. I’ll have a look at the app you e shared n let you know how I go.
Arigato x
It actually won’t let me download the app Josh, saying it’s not available in my country.
Oh no… it must be because you are in Japan…
Here is the link to the Japanese version: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1153448703
After installing it, in iOS setting (not app settings), you can chage the language of the app to English. Can you try that?
Thanks Josh. I can actually get online with it but not through the app. I find that booking trains seems to be a lot of hassle. Unlike everything else here, which is straightforward and fantastic. Me and my pal are just going to go to the station tomorrow and hope for the best. It’s Fujisawa we are heading to. Whether that’s wise, with a typhoon possibly heading our way. Let’s see x
So, you bought them on the web?
What is the site? Please tell us how it goes!
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