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Paralympics chief says Tokyo hotels 'biggest concern'

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By Richard Carter

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Most able-bodied people have no idea of the extreme challenges those with disabilities face. The average person just thinks about getting a wheelchair from A to B. However, the challenges and disabilities go far beyond this obvious point. Perhaps the biggest problem those with disabilities face is prejudice, sadly. Hopefully, the people of Tokyo will change their attitude towards physically and mentally handicapped people during the Paralympic games. It would be nice to see the people of Tokyo being more accommodating to all people with disabilities every day. Perhaps the games will start the ball rolling.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

The change in legislation will be a positive legacy from the Games and Parsons hoped the competition would also promote a change in attitude.

Hope all you want, this is Japan, and things are not going to change, unless the hotels can get public funding to make the necessary upgrades, otherwise forget it.

Everyone will pay lip service to the needs, until the games are over!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Hopefully all that construction at Ginza is in order to make it more accessible and hopefully it will be completed soon!

Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike has repeatedly insisted that Tokyo 2020 will only be a success if the Paralympic Games goes off without a hitch and the aging Japanese capital is hoping to seize on the opportunity to improve infrastructure for the elderly.

I like Koike's thinking. The Paralympic effect is pretty much the only (or at least the primary) reason I support Tokyo hosting the games.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Yubaru: "Everyone will pay lip service to the needs, until the games are over!"

Bingo!! And how are the trains going to work during the paralympics, already being so crowded that there is NO WAY even a single wheelchair could be shoved in?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

i am surprised that Japanese society has such an archaic attitude in the 21st. century. Here's hoping the Paralympics begin a fundamental change, as with a rapidly ageing population they will need it as sadly old age can for many bring increasing disability.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Tokyo is a city full of steps and different levels.

I'm not disabled but injured my hip last year, and Tokyo was an absolute nightmare.

It wasn't just the number of times I had to go up or down some steps - but it was the first time I'd really noticed the lack of places to rest. There are very few benches, or even low walls that you can sit down on, and also few shaded places that provide an escape from the sunlight.

Due to the heat and humidity, the Olympics will be a nightmare for most visitors, but add in the design of the city and it's just going to be awful for disabled visitors.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

i recall that the British Paralympic team were initialy asked to meet the costs of the hotel making more rooms accessible AND the cost of retrofitting back to 'normal' after their stay.

Japan at its welcoming best?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Let's clear up a few points. The Olympic Village housing will apparently include enough disabled-access rooms for the Paralympics athletes and "some" of their support teams. Elsewhere, the disabled-access accommodation available is not sufficient for the rest of their support teams, or for spectators, journalists and coaches. This means that Tokyo's Olympics will also lack sufficient accommodation for these people. Next, AFAIK, there is no "Japanese legislation" regarding wheelchair-friendly rooms, it is all regional. In any case, moving from "one wheelchair-friendly option" in 50 rooms to "one percent of rooms" is not actually an improvement. In my experience, this "wheelchair-friendly option" is regarded as a tiresome intrusion by hotel operators who cannot wait to use it as a changing room for wedding guests, versus a negotiating point for local government bureaucrats trying to exert their authority. Both sides will need extensive training to actually provide useful facilities for people who will really need it just one year from now. And finally, if those disabled support teams, spectators, journalists and coaches need to travel on public transport, all travel will require advance planning, some journeys will be impossible and just forget the Ginza line .....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Japan is not the best country to be handicapped in. I have noticed changes though, but the Olympics is coming soon.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Why not design a wheelchair that can walk up steps? Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier, especially with modern tech, to modify the disabled mode of transport than than to modify the building?

There is actually a technology competition called Cybathlon that works to improve assistive technology including wheelchairs that could climb up stairs. But if you think it's easier to make the technology or for the disabled to use the wheelchairs or to afford it, check out the videos and decide:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/nhknewsline/ataglance/20190524/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVn7W8qyzKk

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Speed

I would have just stayed there-he could not have done anything to you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The Paralympics should not be awarded unless a plan is shown to prove hotel bed accessibility. Obviously it wasn't. Or they lied.

The majority of tickets should be sold to those with disabilities who want to attend. If the majority of spectators are able-bodied it kind of becomes a show. Right?

0 ( +5 / -5 )

As a hotel owner in Japan, I was recently sent a letter from local council explaining this situation. There was an offer that they would put 20% toward the cost of the renovations to make my place wheelchair accessible (It was a generic letter sent to all hotel owners). It would involve putting a 4-floor elevator at my place which would be virtually impossible considering the age and design. It makes sense on newly built properties but not existing multi-story buildings which would need to be butchered to offer this access.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Making places accessible for the disabled means using more space which runs counter to the Japanese way of thinking on this crowded island.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

HBJAug. 21  07:39 pm JST

I'd really noticed the lack of places to rest. There are very few benches, or even low walls that you can sit down on, and also few shaded places that provide an escape from the sunlight.

I'm glad someone else noticed this, too. In Osaka, after hurting my knee, I had to walk around for quite a bit on business. I was exhausted and I couldn't find any benches or places to sit anywhere.

I finally sat on a flower bed edge to give myself a little rest. I wasn't in the way of anyone walking on the sidewalk or anything.

A security guard came up and told me to leave. I told him I just needed to sit for a couple of minutes but he still made me leave right away. Eventually, I had to just find a place on the ground to lay my butt on until my knee was feeling better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This isn't going to be a difficult thing to resolve. There are lots of temporary solutions that can be put in place. I know as I have first hand experience with this in Central Tokyo. The only difficulty will be in getting the collective cooperation of a targeted set of Hoteliers and the local Ward offices. But the current problem, I'd imagine, is that at present, the shortfall (if it exists) is an unknown quantity.

I suspect that this chap - Parsons, is scare-mongering. Disabled people do venture out of their homes ! And here in Tokyo, people (complete Strangers) offer to help them get on/off trains, etc... unlike in other Countries (from experience). And believe it or not, the International community is also among those who I have seen offering to help.... perhaps when living in Japan, being good mannered towards each other is something that spreads across different Cultures ?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I doubt that hotels are the answer - at least in time for the Olympics. Modifying existing structures can be quite difficult and time consuming. Maybe the organizers should establish another village - maybe along the lines of the disaster temporary housing complexes. Equipped for disabled and their families, of course.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I would think their biggest concern would be it's likely to be hot as hell August 25.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

Why not design a wheelchair that can walk up steps? Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier, especially with modern tech, to modify the disabled mode of transport than than to modify the building?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

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