What a nine-day trip with a full-time wheelchair user taught us

The trip

A Canadian travel agency sent us the enquiry early in 2026. Three people were travelling: a man who uses a manual tilt wheelchair full-time, his sister, who is an occupational therapist, and a care aide. Tokyo was the base, with two nights in Kyoto and a day at Mount Fuji. Nearly every road leg was in a wheelchair-accessible vehicle with a certified driver, and the bullet train was booked in its wheelchair seats.

The bathroom question came late

About a month before departure the agency noticed that the Tokyo hotel's accessible room had a bathtub and no separate shower, though the hotel would lend a shower chair. That is common in Japan. In many accessible bathrooms the floor beside the tub is a wet floor with its own drain, so a traveller can shower seated without getting in; in others the bath is a one-piece unit with the shower over the tub, so ask which. We hired a wheeled shower chair for the Tokyo hotel. It did not fold, so instead of moving it to Kyoto we booked a second one for the Kyoto hotel.

The lesson was about order. The hotels had been booked before the chair's measurements came in, and the bathroom was settled after the rooms. Now the bathroom comes first: we read each room's floor plan and ask the hotel for the step into the shower in centimetres before saying a room fits. Our notes on floor plans and on barrier-free bathrooms explain both.

Two centimetres

The lift-van operator's rear lift takes a chair up to 120 cm long. The tilt chair measured 122 cm. Its footrests came off, which saved about 20 cm, and its owner thought they had been set about 2 cm shorter than when he first measured. On the trip the family took the footrests off to fit the van and to move around the hotel room, and took the anti-tippers off to go backwards down a large step.

The traveller asked, through his sister, that North American wheelchair users be told this: "Japan tends to be geared towards smaller and lighter wheelchairs (for ramps, van lifts, elevators)". Measure the chair with and without its footrests, and send the numbers before anything is booked.

Better than expected

On the metro, his sister wrote: "Taking the metro turned out to be better than expected, thanks to the help of the metro staff." She added that a wheelchair user should allow about half as long again for any metro trip, for the wait for staff and lifts. On the public toilets: "Japan's public accessible toilets have LOTS of space and are amazing."

Restaurants: a ramp is not enough

A restaurant can have a ramp to get in and still no room at the table, the traveller pointed out. When a place did not work, the family went somewhere else. His suggestion was that someone local should check restaurants ahead of time and book them, to make sure they really are accessible. Ask about the space at the table as well as the step at the door.

Plans and flexibility

The itinerary flagged the stretches that were not fully accessible, such as gravel and steps, and we offered alternatives where a place did not work; on the ground, the family added more shopping time. His sister's verdict on planning: "while one can plan as much as possible, an element of flexibility is still needed." The least flexible thing, she added, is the space in a hotel room. She also suggested going through the next day's plan the day before, so everyone knows what to plan for.

After the trip she listed what would help next time: photos of the wheelchair bathrooms at each sight with their turning space, the turning space and the clear path from door to bed in each hotel room, and a warning of any unusually steep ramp. We told her we would build these into future itineraries.

In her words

"Tokyo Locals were amazing in creating a customized accessible trip. They took the time to understand what my brother's specific needs were, and were conscientious of being able to meet his needs throughout."

"Our guide ... was extremely attentive and caring; we couldn't have asked for a better guide! I would 100% recommend Tokyo Locals to anyone looking for a customized accessible trip."

Erline W, sister of full-time wheelchair user and Occupational Therapist, Canada