[Joan Pahisa]

Hi Wendy!

Takayama is one of the best towns to visit on a wheelchair. Here are my Instagram posts on the trip that I did there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BorvCsWhRz2/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BorzxiQhDUp/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BourWW4BaGi/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BouygniBYNq/

As Josh said, there’s no problem to access Takayama by train. I went there from Nagoya.

As for hotels, I stayed at the Country Hotel Takayama, I can’t remember if they had a room with a wheelchair accessible toilet. I can stand up, so as long as the hotel is step free I can manage. The hotel was accessible through a side entrance at ground level where you took an elevator to the lobby floor.

https://goo.gl/maps/6iJqsQjsAQG2

I’ve seen that there’s also a Best Western Hotel near the station, so it may be a better option. I don’t know if they have wheelchair accessible rooms. You should contact them beforehand.

https://goo.gl/maps/vWNfn25myaJ2

While in Takayama, don’t miss Takayama Jinya. From the outside it seems that it’s not wheelchair accessible, but if you ask at the ticket place they deploy a slope (a pretty steep one, though) for you to access. It’s one of the only tatami-floor building that I’ve been able to access with the wheelchair.

As for Shirakawago, here are my couple Instagram post on it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BocEgPkhwqu/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BojieEChgpb/

The buses that I took from Kanazawa to Shirakawago and from Shirakawago to Takayama were not wheelchair accessible. I don’t know if there are any accessible buses from Takayama. Hopefully Josh will get the answer. I’d suggest an accessible taxi, although it might be really expensive. I did a fast search from Takayama Jinya to Shirakawago and the price is around 16000 yen (one-way).

https://www.taxifarefinder.com/jp/

Once in Shirakawago you can stroll around without problems as there are no sidewalks (only from the bus station to the main street). The thing is that I couldn’t find any wheelchair accessible houses to enter. The town, though, is really beautiful just from the outside. I really enjoyed my time there just wheeling around. There’s an accessible toilet at the bus station and, to eat, there’s a wheelchair accessible noodle restaurant on the main street.

https://goo.gl/maps/9w84vvdCekT2

I went there in May. I wonder if there may be snow during March. In all, I spent there around 3 hours. In Takayama I stayed a night.

Anyway, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask : ) I’m sure that you’ll really enjoy your trip to Japan!

Joan