When traveling abroad, the challenges of communication can often turn an exciting vacation into a frustrating experience.  While travel SIM cards are better than roaming fees, the cost of using an online-only app can be expensive and phrasebooks still serve an important function in travel today.  However, all of these books are extremely general and have an able-bodied user in mind as the audience.  For travelers with disabilities, communicating your needs is extremely important.  So, we have created a phrasebook of essential Japanese for travelers with disabilities.

There is no reason to redo what other publications have done better, so we recommend you do pick up a regular phrasebook to cover the basics.  We will only focus on accessibility and disability related words and phrases.  The Japanese will be written using Japanese characters so you can show it to a native speaker for the fastest results.  For those interested in saying the phrase yourself, please see the pronunciation.  This page provides a great explanation of how to pronounce Japanese: An Introduction to Japanese Pronunciation.

Accessible Japan strives to work closely with the people who use this site and want to be as inclusive of every disability as possible.  If there is something you feel is missing from this phrasebook, please let us know in the forum.

Basic Words

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Disability障害shōgai
Physical Disability身体障害shintai shōgai
Hearing Impairment聴覚障害chōkaku shōgai
Visual Impairment視力障害shiryoku shōgai
Learning Difficulties知的障害chiteki shōgai
Autism自閉症jiheishō
Long-term illness難病nanbyō
Multiple Sclerosis; MS多発性硬化症tahatsusei kōkashō
Diabetes糖尿病tōnyōbyō
Asthmaぜんそくzensoku
Epilepsyてんかんtenkan
(Epileptic) Seizure(てんかん)発作(tenkan) hossa
Wheelchair車いすkuruma-isu
Electric Wheelchair電動車いすdendō kuruma-isu
Manual Wheelchair手動車いすshudō kuruma-isu
Canetsu-e
Attendant介助者 /
ヘルパー
kaijosha /
herupā
Accessibleバリアフリーbaria furii
Accessible Toilet誰でもトイレ /
多目的トイレ
dare-demo toire /
tamokuteki toire
Elevatorエレベーターerebētā
Rampスロープsurōpu
Shower chairシャワーチェア /
シャワー椅子
shawā che-a /
shawā isu
Hand rail手すりte-suri
Wheelchair space車いすスペースkuruma-isu supēsu
Guide/Service Dog補助犬hojoken
Medicinekusuri

Phrases

Disability Related

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
I am disabiled障がい者ですshōgai-sha desu
I have [disability] [disability] を持っています[disability] o motte-masu
Can walk a bit 少し歩けますsukoshi arukemasu
Cannot walk at all全然歩けませんzenzen arukemasen

Hotels

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Do you have an accessible room? バリアフリー部屋がありますか? baria furii heya ga arimasu ka?
Is there a roll-in shower?バスタブとは別のシャワースペースがありますか? basu tabu to wa betsu no shawā supe-su ga arimasu ka?
Is there a shower chair? シャワーチェアがありますか? shawā che-a ga arimasu ka?
Are there any steps in the room?部屋には、段差がありますか? heya ni wa, dansa ga arimasu ka?
Is there a step into the bathroom?トイレの入り口には、段差がありますか? toire no iri-guchi ni wa, dansa ga arimasu ka?
How wide is the door? ドアの幅は何センチですか? do-a no haba wa nan senchi desu ka?
Is there a wheelchair I can borrow? 貸出車いすがありますか? kashi-dashi kuruma-isu ga arimasu ka?

Transportation

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Which entrance has an elevator? エレベーターのある入り口はどちらですか? erebētā no aru iri-guchi wa dochira desu ka?
I want to go to [place] [Place] に行きたいです [Place] ni ikitai desu
Can you provide a (portable) ramp for the train please? スロープをお願いします surōpu o onegai shimasu

Out and About

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Is there an accessible restaurant nearby? 車いすが入れるレストランは、この辺にありますか? kuruma-isu ga haireru resutoran wa, kono-hen ni arimasu ka?
Is there an accessible entrance? 車いすが入れる入り口がありますか? kuruma-isu ga haireru iri-guchi ga arimasu ka?
How do I go from [Place A] to [Place B] in a wheelchair? 車いすで、[Place A] から [Place B] までどうやって行きますか? kuruma-isu de, [Place A] kara [Place B] made dō yatte ikimasu ka?
Can I visit [Place] with a wheelchair? 車いすでも、[Place] に行けますか? kuruma-isu demo, [Place] ni ikemasu ka?
Can you reach that for me? あれを取っていただけますか? a-re o totte itadakemasu ka?
Can you guide me to [Place]? [Place] まで案内していただけますか? [Place] made an-nai shi-te itadakemasu ka?
Do you have a fork(/spoon/straw)? フォーク(/スプーン/ストロー)がありますか? fōku(/su-pun/sutorō) ga arimasu ka?
Are there any stairs? 階段がありますか? dansa ga arimasu ka?

Equipment

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
It can fold 折りたためます ori-tatamemasu
It can’t fold折りたためません ori-tatamemasen
Hold hereここで持ってください koko de motte kudasai
It is too heavy to lift重すぎです omosugi desu
It is [weight] kg[weight] キロです [weight] kiro desu
It is a [type] battery[type] バッテリーです [type] batterii desu
Dry batteryドライバッテリー dorai batterii
Lithium-ion batteryリチウムイオン バッテリー richi-umu i-on batterii
Wet batteryウェットバッテリー wetto batterii
Sealed batteryシールドバッテリー shiirudo batterii
Non-sealed batteryノンシールドバッテリー non shiirudo batterii
Please be careful気を付けてください ki o tsukete kudasai

Getting Help

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Excuse meすみません sumimasen
Please help me / give me a hand 手伝ってください tetsu datte kudasai
I’m fine/OK 大丈夫です daijōbu desu
Help (emergency) 助けて! tasukute
Can you please write it down書いて頂けますか?kaite itadakimasu ka?

Allergies

EnglishJapanesePronunciation
Vegetarian菜食主義saishoku shugi
Glutenグルテンguruten
Milk牛乳gyūnyū
Dairy乳製品nyūseihin
Peanut落花生rakka-sei
Soy大豆dai-zu
Nutsナッツnattsu
Eggstamago
Does this contain [food][food] が入っていますか?[food] ga haite masu ka?
I have a [food] allergy.[food] アレルギーを持っています[food] arerugii o motte mas
Can you make this without [food]?[food] なしで作っていただけますか?[food] nashi de tsukutte itadakemasu ka?

Colorful speech bubbles with various emoji faces ask about accessible travel in Japan. Text invites taking a survey.

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