My husband has retinitis pigmentosa and is losing his vision. It’s bad enough he can no longer drive now. He can see ok in the daytime unless the sun is directly in his eyes. At night, he can’t see at all unless it is very well lit. For example, he can not see at all in dimly lit bars or restaurants. Obviously he’d like to do something at night beside sit in his hotel, but I don’t know what would be well lit enough for him to see.
Our proposed dates are either February 24th-March 5th or March 3rd-12th but they are flexible. He doesn’t mind cold and doesn’t like crowds if he can avoid them.
I can pretty much handle planning for the day, but for night I don’t know where would be well lighted and fun. We plan to split our time between Kyoto and Tokyo.
Any advice you have about interesting very well lit night locations in either of these cities would be much appreciated, especially if it’s street food, music, culture. Honestly, anything well lit would be better than him sitting in the hotel.
My vision is normal, so I can get him there if we have to walk a short way in the dark.
I really want to make this an easy fun experience for him despite his vision issues.
Thank you for your help!
3 comments
Would his vision impact his ability to bowl? We went to a [bowling alley in Shinjuku](https://copa-shinjuku.com/lang/en.html) that is open until 6:30am. It was brightly lit in a glow in the dark kind of way.
I travelled with someone pre cataract surgery who seemed to have very similar impacts as you describe as the cataracts were quite advanced.
In Kyoto we stayed close ro Kyoto Station. They have an enormous underground mall underneath and next to it. Both extremely wel lit. Many different restaurants and easy to see if they are well before you enter, most were. There is also some shopping available.
We ventured out to a few illuminations and he did OK with assistance and being in a crowd could follow along. A good pocket totch he could flick on and off was a good aid to double check the pathway / steps.
Large stations (Kyoto, Shinjuku & Tokyo stations) have underground/undercover areas with restaurants and some shops that you can browse. These areas are well lit. Note that shops tend to close around 9pm.
The areas around Shinjuku and Shibuya have ok lighting from street lamps, shops and signage so you could wander around those areas. Downtown Kyoto would be similar as well.