Hi guys. My intellectualluy disabled brother (no mobility issues) is coming to visit us in Japan for about 6 weeks. We (my wife and I) plan to take him around (he loves theme parks and we’ll obviously take him to Disneyland).
I was wondering if anyone else had similar experiences or has a disabled family members in Japan that know about any services, how to get discounts or other ideas (or things I didn’t even think of).
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
11 comments
I don’t know if this helps, but shinjuju gyouen is ¥500 per person, you guys can walk around the park and have picnic. I like to take my friends that comes there to chill out, since sometimes touristic spots can be overwhelming.
What does he like personally?
My wife does work with a lot of people with folks with a wide variety of different abilities, and some like book stores, looking at the preview screens at the movie theatres and collecting the pamphlets, one guy loves gears. Any kind, especially counting their movements. When she was telling me about that guy, I said “Take him to that new big gatcha store.”
Slight misfire, they had to stay till it closed. 56, 692 turns is how many he counted that day.
Any regional theme parks? They’ll likely be less crowded and stressful.
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edit – William’s Syndrome, a big laundromat! Used to have a foster kid with that back in the day, *man*, did he love his agitators!
Yomiuriland is a ton of fun. They have a great water/light show and plenty of food including an eat-in pizza buffet.
Public facilities like museums usually offer discount fees for handicapped people, but they are asked to show their “Shogaisha techo”, or a disability certificate to get the discount. Many facilities offer special care, so ask them if you can have any in advance.
^*Source:* ^my ^brother ^is ^disabled
Generally speaking, Japanese amusement parks only give stingy discounts to residents of Japan with an official Japanese disability certificate “*handicap techo*” with picture ID. Conversely, Japanese zoos and museums have rather lose/free admissions for the handicapped and their Suporter(s). Sadly your brother seems to be an American and the USA does not have a system official handicapped IDs.
For example, like most Japanese amusement parks USJ (Universal Studios Japan) just gives out “Support Stickers” not real discounts. usj.co.jp/web/en/us/service-guide/barrier-free/information
The gold standard for disability perks, Tokyo Disney, has discounts for those residents of Japan with a Japanese disability certificate. Getting a disability discount as a tourist/non-resident is quite a bit trickier and takes advance planning. Refer to:
faq.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdr/en/faq_detail.html?id=20291&category=10239&page=1
tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdr/bfree/bfree_ticket.html
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For more info about the possibilities for disability perks, see Disney’s general worldwide information:
disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/cognitive-disabilities/
cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.disney.com/vision-dam/digital/parks-platform/parks-standard-assets/disneyland/guest-services/accessibilities/DLR_Cognitive_Guide_2023_Toontown.pdf
disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/
hotdeals.com/promo-codes/disneyland-disability-discount/
Take him to Showa Kinen Koen, it’s like a nice big park with a bicycle rental, rowboats and a jungle gym.
https://www.showakinen-koen.jp/guide-english/
It’s really nice I’m pretty sure that they have a discount for the disabled if your brother has a 愛の手帳, “Ai-no-techou”
If you think he might be disruptive, a Help Mark might help others be more understanding. You can pick them up at train stations around Tokyo for free, no questions asked.
My sister has intellectual disabilities, but we didn’t need many accommodations for them when she visited. We mostly just took things slow and allowed her to take breaks whenever she needed.
Not trying to be rude, but make sure he knows that the emergency button in the public toilets isn’t the flush! 😅 I know that has caught all sorts of people who can’t read Japanese, he might get a bit of a fright if people come bounding in to check on him.
Also have a look in your local book shop for a stamp passport! Especially if he’s into trains, can collect station stamps.
There’s a great forum site called [Tabifolk](https://www.tabifolk.com/groups/japan/) which is geared specifically toward traveling/living internationally with disabilities (I guess it has a lot of countries, but it started in Japan so there’s a pretty active community there.) Just had a look and there’s a long thread specifically about going to Disney! Definitely recommend checking it out!
Does he have sensory issues? You know him best of course and I’m sure you’ve thought of this but even for me (neurotypical), Japan’s flashing lights and sounds were OVERWHELMING before I got used to them. I’m thinking places like Donki, Yodabashi, Shibuya Scramble etc. but even the big train stations are loud af sometimes with all the dings and dongs and jingles. He might benefit from some noise canceling headphones in areas like that!
Definitely get some sort of official disability marker, lots of parks will offer discounts. I remember there must be some form to validate when entering the country