We have arrived in Japan!
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We have arrived in Japan!
I wanted to thank everyone who has replied and help with information while I was trying to plan this dream holiday to Japan.
We are finally here! The flight was long and painful for me – I do not do well when out of my wheelchair.
Coming from Australia and traveling with Qantas, I was able to use the eagle lift to get in to my seat on the plane. Unfortunately they did not have the eagle lift to get me off at Narita. Apparently they do not have people trained to use it 🙁 That made the transfer to get off very hard. I was already in a lot of pain form being out of my chair for 10hrs but then had to do a very difficult slide on to an aisle chair then back into my wheelchair. I can slide (with great difficulty) if the seats are at the same height but the aisle chair was slightly higher than the plane seat. Then the strap would not fit around me and there were no armrests so I felt like I was going to fall off it. Getting back in to my wheelchair was also hard as again it was slightly higher than the aisle chair.
It would help if they had people trained to use the equipment as the eagle lift is awesome!
Anyway we are staying in Shinjuku for the next couple of days then a one night stop in Nagoya then through to Takayama then Kyoto and back to Tokyo before returning home.
Does anyone have any suggestions on places I should check out? I am really into Anime (especially pokemon and astroboy as I collect both of those) and gaming stuff.
Even though we have only been here a day I am absolutely loving it. We are staying at the Keio Plaza right now and the Universal room is awesome. I was very impressed that the bed is actually one of those electric ones that goes up and down and you can raise either the head or legs. I have never seen that in a hotel before. They even give you a smart phone to use while you are there, however it does have a lot of advertisements that come up and you have to pay for certain extra features, but it does have internet and and can make and receive calls. I found it quite handy when I got lost and needed directions back to my hotel. The toilet has a bidet which is great but unfortunately is a little low for me. They offered a range of items for the bathroom including 2 types of shower stool and grab rail attachment and step thing. Unfortunately none of these are perfect for me but may be very useful to others who can do standing transfers. Does anyone know of any raised bidet type toilets in the area?
I’ll try to take pictures and review the different places we stay at.
So for I am absolutely loving Japan!!
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3 Replies
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Welcome!!
Sorry to hear about the painful transfer. I have never seen an Eagle Lift here. Please be sure to mention it again at the airport (or a customer servey if possible) as they may never change policy unless they hear a need.
Yes, Keio Plaza just renovated and is one of the most forward-thinking hotels when it comes to accessibility. But, things are low almost everywhere in Japan…
If you like Anime, try Akihabara, Nakano Broadway (though read our note on the train station), and Ghibli!
Enjoy! And please keep sharing here so we can all learn.
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Hi! I’m glad that you made it to Japan, despite the rough travel experience. Even though there are some things that can be improved, I’m sure that you’ll enjoy Japan and love it there : )
As for recommendations, don’t miss Takayama Jinya in Takayama. Even though it doesn’t seem wheelchair accessible from the outside, you need to ask and they’ll deploy a ramp so that you can access the building. Inside it’s really nice, with tatami floor, sliding doors and nice gardens. One of the only traditional buildings in Japan that you can enter with your own wheelchair. The Jinya used to be a local government office during the Edo period.
As for Tokyo, you may like to visit the main, I think, pokémon store in Japan. It’s in Ikebukuro’s Sunshine building on the 2nd floor. The store is mostly full of pokémon teddies. It’s wheelchair accessible, although the building is really big and the elevators are quite difficult to navigate in order to reach the store depending on the entrance that you get in from (I’m sorry I can’t remember the one that’s nearby). From the top of the building, there’s also a nice view of Tokyo, although going up was quite expensive. I had sushi at a wheelchair accessible restaurant from the second to last floor instead. It was the first restaurant with a ramp that I could find.
As for the bidet, I’m sorry that I can’t help.
Anyway, enjoy your stay!
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Wow, it seems like a wonderful adventure.
So sorry to know that you faced some problems with the transfers but I assure that good things always need more effort.
Keep going and travel as possible as you can.
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