Hi,
I am planning my first trip to Japan, I have always wanted to go but was worried due to my disability. This time I decided to bite the bullet and do it, we are planning for the month of October but as I did some research I ended up with more questions and I hoped I could ask for some advice here.
(I dont speak Japanese but I am trying to learn as many words and sentences as i can )
The nature of my disability is as follows: I use a rather compact manual wheelchair, I am pretty independent and do not need assistance aside from curbs or busy areas. In very bumpy areas with cobbles, I have a seperate wheel that attaches to the front of my chair and that helps . I cannot walk at all and cannot wait in long lines unless I know there is an accessible bathrooms I could pull away to in the vacinity.
My husband and I are planning a 3 week trip in which we wanted to do Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. Maybe Kobe and Nagoya but any recomendations is welcome, please let me know if you think there is a location that is better for accesibility.
I have a question about the following:
How easy is it to use the trains and modes of transportation? Some places mention to book days ahead if I need assistance.
1. I read theres a wheelchair discount for people with disabilities for places such as trains, Ghibli Park, Disney ect but I am not sure if that applies to foreigners. Some places say you need an equivalent to disability ID called a 障がい者手帳 (shogaisha techo) which provide different types of discounts and accomodations but we dont really have that in Canada, I have a parking permit and an access card but they would all be in english. Is that okay?
For some of these attractions I need to book them months in advance, so I would not want to buy the disability tickets and then cause a misunderstanding when I get there.
2. Is there anything I should be careful of? Do I need to prebook restaurents a head of time too, so that i dont incovience the servers too much?
3. I have always wanted to go to an onsen, but I was wondering how doable that was with a chair , is it a hygene concern since I need to get my chair to the very edge and i might need assistance if my partner is not there. ? Have you had an experience in an onsen that was fairly accessible?
Please kindly advice, thank you!!
Sorry for all the questions/ spelling mistakes please dont feel the need to answer all!
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by anna-hana