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Hi! I’m new here so hopefully I’m doing this right.
I have been looking at wheelchair rentals in Japan to see if I could avoid traveling with my Permobil M5, but all I have been able to find are manual chairs and small power chairs without even neck support. Do you know where or if you can rent a powerchair like this somewhere in Tokyo (if we can arrange it, we would land at Haneda)? I need neck support, tilting and reclining, as well as proper shock absorbing. Is this even possible?
My chair is amazing but I cannot afford to loose it to an airline mishap (which seem to be very common). The ideal option will be just land and have it ready waiting at the airport (or at the first hotel in Yokohama otherwise). I’m not paralysed but cannot move around without these due to my medical conditions. I have been dreaming of visiting Japan for 20 years and this could be my only chance, but only if I can have my chair or similar.
Thank you so much in advance, this community is amazing 💙.
I’m attaching a picture of the Permobil M5 as well as the link for reference.
[Sorry for the double posting]
permobil.com
The M5 Corpus is made for more adventure, which gives it a capability all of its own for users who require more speed, stronger motors, higher elevation, better reach and exceptional comfort, stability and traction in varying driving situations. With … Continue reading
Josh Grisdale and tabifolk10 Comments-
Likely a challenge but maybe @ohayotravel can help?
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We travelled with a manual wheelchair and a powered one. If you fly Finnair the ground staff at Haneda will be JAL. They took very good care of the wheelchairs. I would recommend talking to the airline because you have a wheelchair which meets your needs, a rental one will be a compromise which will be hard work unless you are very lucky.
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@Maury Thank you so much, this gives me some peace of mind. I cannot afford another chair so I’m terrified of damaging it in some way, specially don’t know how to protect the controller. Did you by any chance did any layovers? Was it ok to get your chair back in between flights to move around the airport or did you use the ground support and let them transfer your chair themselves between the planes?
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@joshgrisdale Hi, thanks for mentioning.
We unfortunately do not rent a M5 Corpus or other similar powerchair with the neck rest. If flying with your wheelchair is without issues, I would recommend to bring it with you. One note I would like to make is: If the total weight of the user and the chair exceeds 250kg, it would be difficult to use a car as most of the case their ramp or lift has load limit of 250kg. If you think of using trains and planes, it would not be so much a problem.
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@Ohayo Travel Thank you for answering. It really seems that taking the chair with me might be the way to go. We were mostly planning to travel by train as it seems to be the easiest and cheaper solution with a Japan Railpass, but we still would like to keep open the idea of accessible taxis if necessary or if finding an interesting tour (but we still have so much more to learn), so thank you! Luckily my chair and I around 200kg together, so hopefully that’s not a problem.
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@Valwen Understood. Good to know the total weight. One note using the Japan Rail Pass. It is better to book at the official site because they allow you to book seats before you come to Japan (one month before the travel date). If you purchase at other sites run by agencies, you can only book seats upon your arrival in Japan.
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@Ohayo Travel Thank you very much, we didn’t know that! 💙
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Hello, I came to Japan 2 times with the same wheelchair, and had no problem.
Where are you flying from ? Is this a direct fly to Japan ?
We flyed from Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) using Air France, there is a special service taking care of the wheelchair, and they put it in a special container, so it cannot be damaged during the flight. This is why we took of in Paris, even if we come from Belgium.
Don’t hesitate to ask in PM if needed, I have some experiences with this chair in Japan, and there was almot no major problem.
Though, take care of the battery charger, because my european one did not work in Japan, I needed to rent / buy one, but I think you can find some adapters, gather informations on your medical provider who supplied your chair, I think they can help also.
Take care, I hope you will be able to come to Japan, it is a really fabulous country to discover in wheelchair !
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@Stephane DEFREYNE Hi Stéphane! Thank you so much! I was reading your answer with my husband and he recognised your name and you have actually met last year! What a coincidence!! I didn’t know they have special containers. We fly from Amsterdam and considered AirFrance but in the end we chose Finnair because then I could lay down more comfortably during the flight, so we have to stop in Helsinki instead of Paris. I hope Finnair does the same, we will ask. Same for the charger, thank you so much! I’ll send you a PM.
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