Hi, I would love to visit Kyoto one day. See the temples and gardens. I use a wheelchair. Is it possible for me to access everything? I saw a lot of stairs in the pictures. Thank you 🙏
Everything? No. Unfortunately, Kyoto is an old city and many old buildings were not designed with wheelchair accessibility in mind. That said, there are many places in Kyoto that are wheelchair accessibile.
Here are a couple posts that describe a little bit about their experiences in Kyoto with a wheelchair – I suggest you start there.
No. Temples are not wheel chair friendly. They do make an attempt in the areas that they can, but it’s just not feasible at certain sites. The outdoor spaces are still beautiful to visit, but every place is different with regards to accessibility. From my experience, they do their best to accommodate. You would be able to enjoy a visit to places like Kinkaku-ji and Arashiyama (bamboo forest, Okochi Sanso Garden, World Heritage site, temples, kimono forest). The Philosopher’s Walk along the canal is also lovely.
Unfortunately a lot of the temples have steep stairs and narrow winding pathways which are inaccessible by wheelchair. As someone else said, a lot of places do their best to accommodate, but often the location of the temples make building adequate accessibility routes near impossible. If you ever go to Kyoto, it will be necessary to research which places are wheelchair accessible in advance.
To add to what other have already said, a lot of temple grounds and gardens use gravel walkways so while not inaccessible the gravel makes it tiring to get around.
Thank you all for your helpful comments! When the time is right to visit Kyoto, I’ll plan my travel and probably write about my experience. 🙏
Some great resources here.
As an additional subjective response, I would say to make sure you look through these sources as I had a bad experience.
I am fully able-bodied. However I lived in Japan for several years a while back. At one point I injured my right leg and was unable to easily climb stairs (tore the meniscus membrane in my knee) and I recall travelling through various Japanese cities as being a bit of an ordeal. Very little lift access etc.
It made me reflect on how Japan can be very difficult for those with access concerns.
access everything? no.
you might wanna do some research what places will work and which ones wont, and dont be surprised that the list of “wont” includes some popular spots…
It’s not very wheelchair friendly as far as I can tell (I dont use a wheelchair, this is just based on my recollection).
Most temples have alot of stairs without wheelchair ramps. Even the walking paths are generally gravel or rock and quite uneven. To add to that, the public transport system around Kyoto isnt as comprehensive as Tokyo, so for some of the temples and tourist areas you have to travel quite far from the train station or busstop to even get to the place.
Definitely not.
While I don’t have a wheelchair, I’m currently using a pram for my one year old and we just got back from Kyoto in November (I live in Japan)
Let’s just say it was very different from Tokyo and Osaka.
Because a lot of the areas are older, as are the buildings, elevators either don’t exist or are behind some sort of stairs (not kidding! What’s the point?). Most newer buildings are up to code, but the older ones may not be.
Kyoto’s biggest and most culturally significant temples are on hills, so you’ll have to work those arm muscles to get up some of the biggest slopes. Kiyomizu Dera is wheelchair accessible, but you’ll be going up a 45 or more degree slope. The paved roads aren’t as accessible, they’re doable, but you’ll have to go around.
The worst part is the buses, which would be fine if they weren’t full 100% of the time.
I’m sure when you visit there will be people willing to help, but just be aware that a lot of Kyoto is very unaccessible as a standard and workarounds will likely be needed,
18 comments
Here is a good website about accessibility
https://www.accessible-japan.com/wheelchair-accessible-travel-destinations-and-tourist-attractions-in-kyoto/
You may not be able to access everything, but many places are accessible, so you should be able to enjoy Kyoto.
As AutoMod said, check [https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel#wiki_i.27m_traveling_to_japan_while_injured_or_physically_disabled._what_should_i_expect.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel#wiki_i.27m_traveling_to_japan_while_injured_or_physically_disabled._what_should_i_expect.3F) especially the “I’m traveling to Japan while injured or physically disabled. What should I expect?” section.
Everything? No. Unfortunately, Kyoto is an old city and many old buildings were not designed with wheelchair accessibility in mind. That said, there are many places in Kyoto that are wheelchair accessibile.
Here are a couple posts that describe a little bit about their experiences in Kyoto with a wheelchair – I suggest you start there.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/dk0r6j/wheelchair_accessibility_status_as_of_october_2019/](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/dk0r6j/wheelchair_accessibility_status_as_of_october_2019/)
https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/ma0iiz/trip_report_breaking_a_bone_in_japan_november_2019/
Japan is not very wheelchair friendly in general I have found during my travels with my mother, but it can be done.
[Story here](https://www.accessible-japan.com/short-trip-kyoto-wheelchair/) and [another here](https://www.accessible-japan.com/wheelchair-accessible-travel-destinations-and-tourist-attractions-in-kyoto/), and in fact that entire website is quite a good read.
No. Temples are not wheel chair friendly. They do make an attempt in the areas that they can, but it’s just not feasible at certain sites.
The outdoor spaces are still beautiful to visit, but every place is different with regards to accessibility. From my experience, they do their best to accommodate.
You would be able to enjoy a visit to places like Kinkaku-ji and Arashiyama (bamboo forest, Okochi Sanso Garden, World Heritage site, temples, kimono forest).
The Philosopher’s Walk along the canal is also lovely.
There’s some advice [here](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/kansai/kyoto/narratives/practical-information/directory/travellers-with-disabilities) and [here](https://www.accessible-japan.com/wheelchair-accessible-travel-destinations-and-tourist-attractions-in-kyoto/) and [here](https://www.japan-accessible.com/city/kyoto.htm) on which places are accessible but I think you will find its the mundane stuff that will make things difficult. Accessible toilets are infrequent and even the normal public toilets are much narrower than western ones I have used. Get the dimensions of the bathrooms in the hotels you are staying in, because they too, can be ridiculously small or placed awkwardly. Stairs are everywhere, especially train stations. Travel outside of peak hours to avoid crowds.
Here is a [website in English](https://kyoto-universal.jp/en/index.html) with information about Kyoto Tourism & accessibility in wheelchair.
No.
[https://www.accessible-japan.com/one-day-kyoto-wheelchair/](https://www.accessible-japan.com/one-day-kyoto-wheelchair/)
Unfortunately a lot of the temples have steep stairs and narrow winding pathways which are inaccessible by wheelchair. As someone else said, a lot of places do their best to accommodate, but often the location of the temples make building adequate accessibility routes near impossible. If you ever go to Kyoto, it will be necessary to research which places are wheelchair accessible in advance.
To add to what other have already said, a lot of temple grounds and gardens use gravel walkways so while not inaccessible the gravel makes it tiring to get around.
Not tourist attractions persee but if you are looking for wheelchair friendly cafes, here is a list https://tasteofkansai.com/testingpage/?directory_type=general&q=&in_cat=&in_loc=296&zip=&in_tag%5B%5D=301
Thank you all for your helpful comments! When the time is right to visit Kyoto, I’ll plan my travel and probably write about my experience. 🙏
Some great resources here.
As an additional subjective response, I would say to make sure you look through these sources as I had a bad experience.
I am fully able-bodied. However I lived in Japan for several years a while back. At one point I injured my right leg and was unable to easily climb stairs (tore the meniscus membrane in my knee) and I recall travelling through various Japanese cities as being a bit of an ordeal. Very little lift access etc.
It made me reflect on how Japan can be very difficult for those with access concerns.
access everything? no.
you might wanna do some research what places will work and which ones wont, and dont be surprised that the list of “wont” includes some popular spots…
It’s not very wheelchair friendly as far as I can tell (I dont use a wheelchair, this is just based on my recollection).
Most temples have alot of stairs without wheelchair ramps. Even the walking paths are generally gravel or rock and quite uneven. To add to that, the public transport system around Kyoto isnt as comprehensive as Tokyo, so for some of the temples and tourist areas you have to travel quite far from the train station or busstop to even get to the place.
Definitely not.
While I don’t have a wheelchair, I’m currently using a pram for my one year old and we just got back from Kyoto in November (I live in Japan)
Let’s just say it was very different from Tokyo and Osaka.
Because a lot of the areas are older, as are the buildings, elevators either don’t exist or are behind some sort of stairs (not kidding! What’s the point?). Most newer buildings are up to code, but the older ones may not be.
Kyoto’s biggest and most culturally significant temples are on hills, so you’ll have to work those arm muscles to get up some of the biggest slopes. Kiyomizu Dera is wheelchair accessible, but you’ll be going up a 45 or more degree slope. The paved roads aren’t as accessible, they’re doable, but you’ll have to go around.
The worst part is the buses, which would be fine if they weren’t full 100% of the time.
I’m sure when you visit there will be people willing to help, but just be aware that a lot of Kyoto is very unaccessible as a standard and workarounds will likely be needed,