RollingRickie

Hi guys first time posting here!

So, I'm looking for some advice on accommodations in Tokyo and Kyoto for a trip happening probably in May 2017. It will be my first time visiting Japan. Now, I've had a look at threads from other wheelchair travelers here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/searc...air-accessible. They were useful but did not address what I was looking for.

So, I do use a wheelchair but at home I use fore-arm crutches inside my house to move about. So, when I need to take a shower I use a shower bench to get into the shower. At home the shower looks like this type:http://homerical.com/wp-content/uplo...-bathrooms.jpg
I use a bench that looks like this: http://www.rehabmart.com/include-mt/...200&height=200

So, basically I want to know if there are hotels that would provide a bench for me or someplace I can rent one. Or what I should do to find someone to talk about this too. I can stay in a room that is not "accessible" as long as I have the shower taken care of.

Some extra info: Traveling with my parents and brother so 4 people. I've seen some prices around for a 4 persons accommodations and have seen that they aren't exactly cheap, so it would be helpful to split into 2 two person rooms.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any advice. If I didn't put enough info ask just me.

LapLap

Hello there,
I once spent a year in a wheelchair and rather longer than that in recovery (where I needed a rollator). Visited Japan a couple of times in that time and got a refresher taste whilst wheeling a kid's buggy around.
I don't think there are any other regular contributors to this forum who have used wheelchairs in Japan.
However, your question may be much easier than you're expecting.
If you need the bench just to be able to get into the bath and access the shower, you may find you won't need it at all in Japan as the bath rooms are generally "wet rooms".
Having said that, there is a wide variety of bathrooms (and I'm not including those specifically built for those with disabilities) and some will be more convenient for you than others.
In the cheaper hotels there are two main issues that come to mind:
1. The initial door step. The bathroom is a prefab wet box. The whole thing is like a bath tub that can be flooded and the doorway is at least 10cms above floor level.
2. The actual size of the room. Once stepping over the threshold, the amount of space available could be 45cm square. Cheaper hotels have ensuite bathrooms where the toilet/bidet, sink, shower and bath share a space under 1.5m2.

Generally, the more expensive the room, the bigger and less like a box the bathroom becomes. But the raised door ledge problem does occasionally present itself.

The Strings Hotel near Shinagawa has bathrooms with separate showers that have no steps or obstructions on the floor. Shinagawa also gives excellent access to trains. You would need to contact them about a bench though.

Benches do come as standard in most Bathrooms, but they are very small and close to the floor.
You may find that you can sit on the edge of a bath and shower that way without the need of any equipment. There's no need to prevent water from falling onto the bathroom floor. If you can handle the initial step into the bathroom your options may be much wider (and cheaper) than you might be expecting.

jib71

Here's an example of that - Hard enough for me to get in and out:
http://www.hituji.jp/img/comret/kana...obadai/071.jpg

LapLap

The glass half full view of that particular example (assuming that one can get over the door ledge) is that you can just sit on the toilet seat and shower yourself there.

Not something that would be possible in most Western Hotels. (Formule 1 Hotels in France perhaps one of the exceptions)

The example I had in mind was this one (It's one of the Nishi Azabu APA Hotel ablution units)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/piresrl/2113031045

RollingRickie

Thanks for the response LapLap. My concern with this suggestion would be sitting on the edge of the bath. I don't know if it is wide enough to sit on safely, it is hard to tell in the pictures. I need to be sure that the bath edge is high enough as well. It should be around as high as the toilet with the toilet cover on. I'm sure someone could tell me if they are wide enough to sit on safely.

Anyways, I talked to my parents about rates to get an idea. We wanted to look for 2 person rooms with rates from ¥10,000 - ¥15,000. With that in mind I did some more googling and found this http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00233/index.html and this http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00233/index.html.

which led me to this: http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/info/bfree.html.

So this hotel chain seems like a good fit for me. Does Tokyo or Japan in general have accessible room standards like the what is illustrated in the link above? It would be helpful if that is all I needed to verify for any hotel in my planning.

evergrn

Keep in mind that Toyoko Inn is a cheap business hotel chain. Rooms are like cubbyholes, like 10~15m2. Basically the bed is the room. The unit bath/toilet room is probably like 1.5m2, not to mention the height difference you'll need to negotiate in getting into and out of the room as mentioned by others. I can't see it being very conducive to a disabled person needing assist device. On the other hand, it seems like Toyoko Inn has special rooms for guests with disability called Heartful Rooms.
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/info/heartful.html

If you're on a tight budget, though, consider sacrificing the location a little bit to stay in a decent hotel with larger rooms and spacious bathrooms. Hotel Richmond in Musashi Kosugi, for instance, has nearly 30m2 rooms with spacious bathrooms for not much more than some of the mediocre business hotels in Tokyo. You may have to look into staying somewhere ~30min away from Kyoto.

LapLap

I'm not so sure anybody can tell you with certainty if the bath edge is wide enough to sit on safely. If you think it might not be, then it probably isn't.
Which is why I suggested you might want to sit on a toilet seat in one of the smaller Japanese bathrooms.

Personally, I have misgivings against the Toyoko Inn Chain. Certain examples may well be exemplary but as a chain organisation they have historically made ugly decisions affecting customers in same gender relationships as well as some very dubious (and occasionally criminal) decisions and policies regarding building codes - I can't help but suspect that the term "heartful" was a way to avoid certain obligations in place in relation to truly "accessible rooms". On the other hand, companies do change (eventually) and the rebranding of the heartful rooms back to "accessible" is optimistic. I understand that Toyoko Inn do keep bath benches of the type you use at home.

Do bear in mind that other chains - such as the Fresa Hotels, Sunroute too (I think), do tend to have an accessible room. You may need to call them to book it though (or email or use a fax - these are still going strong in Japan). So even if you find a suitable hotel, unless that room is available on your dates it won't necessarily be an option.

Think about what you want to do where you want to be and what you want to spend. I'm certainly willing to help, I'm sure others will be too.

beep88

>> you might want to sit on a toilet seat in one of the smaller Japanese bathrooms.

The washlet control panel and the washlet toilet seat itself are waterproof and can survive a shower, as opposed to being splashed while one sits at the tub?

jpdx

I visited Japan 4 or 5 times with a friend who's a wheelchair user (T8 paraplegic). I thought we wrote a trip report about Japan, but can't find it. I did, before our first trip, start a thread about hotels in Tokyo. At the time, my concern was more with ease of moving around the city than accessibility features of the room.

The Cliff's Notes version is, there's nothing to worry about. You will find everybody in Japan to be incredibly friendly and helpful. All train and subway lines are accessible, even though some stations are huge, confusing, and under-elevatored. Look at maps and allow a bit of extra time. Reserve seats where possible (long distance trains and airport express) and ask to be directed to the exact spot where wheelchair spaces are located.

As for hotels, accessible rooms do exist, but are far fewer in numbers than what US ADA requires, and the design standards seem to vary more widely. We generally stayed at upscale hotels (using points) -- Conrad Tokyo, Grand Hyatt Tokyo, St Regis Osaka, Ritz Carlton and Intercontinental Okinawa, and only a few midscale hotels (Westin Kyoto, Hyatt Regency Tokyo, Sheraton Hiroshima, Grand Hyatt Fukuoka, Doubletree Naha). The issue at the upper end hotels is that accessible rooms are often marketed as suites (due to their larger square footage), and can thus be very expensive. One can, of course, show up on the day of arrival and hope to be assigned the accessible "suite" (especially when holding elite status), but that carries the risk of the room being unavailable. We had a wide range of accessible rooms, including some of the best designed ones we've seen worldwide, and some head scratchers. At St Regis Osaka, the accessible room had a grab bar on one side of the toilet, and nothing else in the room was accessible. Westin Kyoto has a standard room in the basement designated as accessible room, and a secret doorway opens into a fully tiled bathroom that looks like the awkward offspring of an ill-advised romance between a 1960s hospital and a freeway rest stop bathroom. The more recently built hotels were quite good. Do note that doors of regular rooms (especially within the room, e.g., bedroom-bathroom) are often not wide enough to accommodate even modestly sized wheelchairs.

All hotels had accessibility equipment readily available, although communication was a challenge in some cases. I would recommend bringing a picture of the shower chair you use at home, so you can show them what you are looking for. At St Regis Osaka, our request was initially met with the delivery of a chair/potty for infants. Most of the hotels had shower benches (without backrest), which is very challenging for someone paralyzed from the chest down, but sounds like it wouldn't be an issue for the OP. Other types of equipment like portable toilet grab bars were available and sometimes set up proactively (even though they were a hindrance in our case and we had to ask to have them taken down again). If you can walk short distances on crutches, you shouldn't have any problems at all.

RollingRickie

Thanks for all the responses so far everybody! I really appreciate your words.

So looks like I got some more things to look into to find a appropriate accommodation.

If a hotel has a accessible room, should I expect them to have equipment that I can borrow? Or does it depend on each hotel?

LapLap

Not all the lower end hotels have washlets (as jib71's link shows). If there's a concern, then it's possible to ask if the hotel will unplug it before booking.
Looks like the OP is now veering away from the initial "can I shower" question.

jpdx

I think the safest advice -for any hotel worldwide- is to not assume that what you need will automatically be available as a matter of course. In our experience (which in Japan predominantly was at 4* and 5* hotels operated by Western chains), all hotels were able to provide a workable solution. I have no idea if this holds true for lower-priced business hotels, where rooms tend to be very small, and presumably relatively few disabled travelers stay. That said, if your needs essentially amount to a shower chair, I would expect virtually all Japanese hotels to be able to produce one.

jpdx

Here's a picture of the shower chair at Conrad Tokyo. I suppose you could email this to the hotels you consider staying at, and ask whether they have something like this available, and if their showers/tubs are large enough to accommodate it.

RollingRickie

Alright, so I've been referencing this http://www.japan-accessible.com/sleeping/tokyo.htm to narrow down option and also bookmarked this http://www.japan-accessible.com/tran...etro/tokyo.htm to have an idea of which stations are probably accessible as well.

Taking LapLap's thoughts, the hotels of interest so far are:

- Fresa Inn
- Toyoko Inn
- Sunroute
-

They all have at least 1 universal room. Rates seem alright from a quick skim through so far as well. So, when my parents find out when we are going to Japan I know now that we need to call the hotel to make sure they have the equipment and available room.

I suppose showering on while sitting on a toilet is not a bad idea, but if I can choose I would prefer an actual chair/bench. Plus a universal room should have no problem fitting a wheelchair inside.

Now this is what I got so far Tokyo. We hope to visit Kyoto for a short while as well.

Toyoko Inn has some places in Kyoto I know since it's listed here: http://www.japan-accessible.com/sleeping/kyoto.htm

There seems to be less choice for something in the 10000 - 15000 yen range.

LapLap

To get you in the mood, there is a NHK World Series called Tokyo Eye with the primary aim of providing information to potential tourists to Tokyo. They made an Accessible Tokyo episode a couple of years ago which should be of interest.

The thing is, they are gearing up for the Olympics and accompanying surge in tourism so that the program is now called called Tokyo Eye 2020. They'd be crazy to ignore that 2020 also relates to the Paralympics and that visitors to both events will include more people with disabilities than ever before.
In your shoes, I would actively contact the Tokyo Eye 2020program makers and see if they have come across any examples of suitable accommodation in your price range. They are due an update for their accessible Tokyo program, so your query will certainly benefit them by helping them understand what actual visitors actually want.