Japan

Before I jump into introducing the cities we had visited and stayed over, and write down my experience on the level of wheelchair accessibility for each place, let me put down a few general tips/notes on travelling in Japan.

1. There is no domestic flight or train between 10pm and 8am so if you need to go to another city on the same day you fly into Tokyo, remember to fly in during the day. If not, you will experience a long night sleeping on benches in the international terminal like us. The best option would be to take the redeye flight that will land you in the morning so you can arrange for the next connecting flight easily.
2. If you are into hopping from city to city, please do get the Japan Rail Pass that will allow you to travel on unlimited number of trains and some buses/cruises within a period of time. There are 7, 14 and 21-day passes to choose from. It should be cheaper than buying individual tickets at the spur of the moment and covers you in situations where you need replacement tickets. It just happened that we encountered train cancellation due to heavy rain. Oh, and book your seats early unless you fancy standing all the way for hours.

For wheelchair users, take note that the aisles of older trains are not wide enough for mine and I had to take the nearest seat to an exit and exchanged my assigned seat with the owner. My cousin gave me the following note to show to the seat owner, which you may find it useful as well:

”すみませんが、身体障碍者ですから、座席を交換する、よろしいですか？”

"su mi ma sen ga, shin tai shou gai sha de su ka ra, za seki o kou kan su ru, yo ro shii de su ka?"