Blog - Accessible Japan

Edo-Tokyo Museum – Accessibility Report

Though settlements have existed in the Tokyo area since 3000 BCE, things really started in the 12th century CE when Edo Shigenaga, the military governor of a large Kanto province, erected his castle in present day Tokyo, calling it Edojuku. Celebrating Tokyo’s long past, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is an excellent museum that is fantastically wheelchair accessible. Check out our accessibility report below! General Information Established in 1993 and modelled after a kurazukuri style storehouse, The Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsApril 10, 2015 ago

Riding the Train or Subway in Japan in a Wheelchair

If you are thinking of traveling to Japan, you may have run across a map of the subway and train lines in Tokyo and subsequently felt your jaw drop to the floor. While there definitely are disadvantages to traveling with a wheelchair, in Japan it can be to your advantage. Getting your ticket and going to the ticket gate Many guidebooks discuss how to buy tickets, but in short: find your destination on the map Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsMarch 30, 2015 ago

Disabled Japanese Artist Hisashi Fukushima

This site and blog mainly focuses on travel and lodging but we also want to share interesting disability-related and cultural stories as well. So, meet Hisashi Fukushima, a prize-winning 46-year-old disabled man from Hidaka, Japan. Hisashi started drawing trains from the age of three. Due to his developmental disability, he would commute to Kawagoe to a consultation center for children. During these trips he became fascinated with the trains and railways that he saw and Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsMarch 27, 2015 ago

The National Art Center, Tokyo – Accessibility Report

Feel like taking in something highbrow in Tokyo? Why not some art! The National Art Center (Kokuritsu Shin-Bijutsukan), Tokyo is an art museum located in the upscale Roppongi district. Opening on January 21, 2007, it is a unique and innovative art exhibition facility: instead of maintaining a permanent collection, it makes the the most of its 14,000 square meters of exhibition space – one of the largest in Japan – and focuses on acting as Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsMarch 25, 2015 ago

Shinkansen (Bullet Train) – Accessibility Report

The Shinkansen (literally “new trunk line”), more famously known as the Bullet Train is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. (Note: The name Superexpress (cho-tokkyu) was retired in 1972 but is still used in English-language announcements and signage.) The network currently links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, but the construction of a link to the northern island of Hokkaido underway. The Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsMarch 16, 2015 ago

Asakusa and Sensoji Temple – Accessibility Report

Sensoji (Sensō-ji) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Tokyo’s cultural capital, Asakusa. Not only is Sensoji Tokyo’s oldest temple, it is one of the most significant. The area is very wheelchair accessible and definitely a must-visit! The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon (Goddess of mercy and compassion). Legend has it that a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 CE by two fishermen and then housed in Read more…

By accessible-japan, 8 yearsMarch 10, 2015 ago