[schroth-sensei]

Hi Kathie,
Firstly if you haven’t, before your flight make sure your flight ticket is marked as needing Wheelchair Assistance, sometimes under “special assistance” (I recommend talking with your airline company directly to ensure this). This typically will let the airport attendants in Japan know in advance that you will need help, which they will usually be waiting for you at the planes exit. In my experiences at both Narita & Haneda I have had 1-2 attendants help with carry-on’s as well as processing through security, customs, and getting bags from baggage claim (Japan’s service industry is awesome!). From there they helped with train tickets and to the train itself, or at Haneda to the train station turnstiles, where they let us go, just like Hlmom said above. 🙂 I haven’t used airport taxis myself, but I imagine if you set up your accessible taxi to pick you up at the airport, that the airport attendants will most likely help you to the Taxi Stand (just make sure you know which terminal the arrangement was made for, as it seems only Terminal 3 has a dedicated space for wheelchair pick-us, more info here: https://www.narita-airport.jp/en/access/taxi ). I usually travel with just enough luggage for my caregiver and I to carry, but if you have a lot of luggage to manage, then maybe Hlmom’s suggestion of a luggage service could be useful as even accessible cars in Japan can be a tight fit. I haven’t used such services myself, but if you do use it please share your experiences as it could be beneficial to myself and others on tabifolk who may need it themselves in the future.

I hope that helps,
-Justin