[Gabrielle]

Hello, how are you? My name is Gabrielle, I am an undergraduate student from Brazil. I am doing academic researches about accessibility in public parks. Here in São Paulo we have a park called “Parque do Carmo” where it is possible to find a lot of sakura’s trees, very similar to the japanese ones. However, this park does not have total accessibility and some people can not access some recreational areas there. Do you have any examples of parks or public spaces in Japan with sakuras and a good accessibility design?

Thank you very much!

[Accessible Japan]

Hi,

Hmmm… tough question.  I would divide parks in Japan into public parks (ie an area with an open space and usually some sort of lawn) and Japanese-garden “parks” (usually a charge to get in, very sculped, no lawn areas usuall just follow the path).

Since cherry blossoms are so popular here, both typically have them.

Typical cherry blossom viewing is done at the public parks because they are open enough to sit down under the trees and are found throughout Japan.  They are usually fairly flat, no areas are restricted for wheelchair users and there is almost always a separate accessible toilet available.

Japanese gardens will often have some cherry blossoms trees as well, but the focus is more on quality over quantity.  These gardens usually have a set path for you to follow instead of going where you please.  They are more likely to be inaccessible because:

• The path is usually gravel or large rocks (like stepping stones)
• Some have hills with steps along the path
• Some have narrow bridges across ponds etc

To combat this, they often provide a map highlighting an accessible route for wheelchair users.

Both tend to have benches to rest on.

So, while I cannot think of a specific place (since sakura are everywhere), I think things like accessible toilets and benches are important.  Additionally, for places where some parts are inaccessible providing a map is a nice way to help with very little cost.

Does this help?