Handicap Accessible Japan!

The video, “Handicap-Accessible Information of Tourist Sites by Barry-Joshua Grisdale（観光地のバリアフリー情報発信 グリズデイル・バリージョシュアさん）”, introduces Barry-Joshua Grisdale of Canada, who promotes information on handicap accessible information on Japan’s tourist websites.

Barry-Joshua Grisdale created an English travel information website for people with disabilities called “Accessible Japan”, and promotes information concerning accessibility to Japan’s tourist attractions for the rest of the world.

The website name, "Accessible Japan", comes from (as you probably guessed) the word accessibility (able to access easily or use easily).
In recent years, the word accessibility, along with the phrase barrier-free, have been popularized globally.
In this article, we will be introducing Barry-Joshua Grisdale and Japan’s handicap accessible situation.

The Different Types of "Handicap Accessible."

Photo：A wheelchair accessible ramp

Handicap accessible means that people with disabilities, elderly people with impaired movement, and a wide range of other people, can use facilities and get around with ease. This also refers to the modifications that help make their lives easier.

Recently, a barrier-free law has been put into place in Japan, and there have been many changes happening such as: reducing uneven transitions between streets and sidewalks,installing tactile paving on the streets (braille blocks), handicap toilets, as well as elevators.
Handrails on trains, extensive wheelchair accessible routes, “Non-step” buses, and handicap accessible hotels are some of the other efforts being made.

Japan’s Efforts to Become “Barrier-Free”

Source :YouTube screenshot

It has been 4 years since Barry-Joshua Grisdale created “Accessible Japan”, the English travel information website for people with disabilities that is accessed over 70,000 times annually.

Barry-Joshua Grisdale now works at a welfare facility in Tokyo. He fondly remembers when he came to Japan on a trip when he was 19 years old, and 6 train station attendants carried him down the stairs. Since then he has been spreading the word on how wonderful Japan is to its visitors.

Source :YouTube screenshot

The English travel information website for people with disabilities “Accessible Japan”, created by Barry-Joshua Grisdale, recommend a pathway leading up to the popular sightseeing attractionSensoji Temple, as shown from 1:05 in the video. It's very useful for people visiting Japan for the first time.
The pathway is very flat and easy to access.
Also, there is a service in which wheelchair users can use a slope to get on, and take a ride on a rickshaw!

Historically famous tourist sites such as Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, as introduced in the footage at 3:31, have become more handicap accessible by installing elevators.

Summary of Japan’s Handicap Accessible Tourist Sites

Source :YouTube screenshot

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Japan will have many visitors coming from overseas, and those with disabilities, using wheelchairs, and those with service dogs will also be able to enjoy Japan’s tourist attractions.

The video in this article, summarizes the efforts of Japan’s tourist sites to becoming handicap accessible.
If you're interested in handicap accessibility at Japan’s tourist sites, give "Accessible Japan" a try. It's full of useful content.

【Official Website】Accessible Japan
https://www.accessible-japan.com/