I recently spent 2 weeks in Japan with a disabled child that due to muscle tone issues related to her disability, still uses a stroller despite being 7. All in and around the Osaka and Tokyo areas.

It is with disappointment that I would have to agree about the comments about strollers and negative attitude paid to the same – or rather indifference to needs of those with children in strollers. In fact, this is our third trip with our child and I would say that this is the worst I have seen it since our first trip with this child, also in a stroller at that time, 2010 (last time was May 2012). We certainly experienced the same.

During our trip, despite being with a child, typically in one arm with my holding her collapsed stroller in the other, only on one occasion did someone get out of the seats allocated to persons with needs to give up the same. The indifference displayed was something I was disappointed in. I would have agreed with most of the comments that typically people are more courteous than this. We also saw people intentionally cut in front of you to exit or enter through the wider ticket gates, push around you in the guard gates and push into you in elevators to cram them full....an offensive example was at about 9:30am when getting into an elevator at hamamatsucho with luggage and our stroller to get to HND....not one but 3 or four people crammed in like a JR special rapid train between Kyoto and Osaka without regard to us or our child.

Now perhaps it was because my wife looks Japanese, but is not, and so does my daughter, but is not, that people displayed this rather unhelpful attitude. I am big white gaijin and perhaps if we were all visible gaijin’s we would have more courtesy displayed towards us. Perhaps we got our first taste of how locals treat each other. I have always heard that the Japanese can be pretty cut through to each other and its often not something that visitors will ever experience.

What I found ironic was that when I was seated with her with stroller folded in busy times, I would relinquish my own seat to pretty much any person, much like I would do here in Toronto, who looked like they could sit down and then have my child on her own. The fact that I was greeted with complete shock by the person who gladly sat down in a crammed train was also equally astonishing.

I would like to point out mjm, that although I agree with you in some respects that people might be upset that someone would get more space, the fact is, our child needs more space. Therefore, you have one flawed assumption in that you assume that each person ought to only be entitled to the same amount of space as any other. And therein lies a flawed assumption. Some people need more space. Children in strollers, mothers with children and persons in wheelchairs etc. They should be accommodated. And accommodation does not mean they get the same amount of space.

Either way, I was let down.

Although Canada is pretty intolerant to persons with special needs, I would see that I think Japan has a long way to go to get even our low points.

I hate to say it also, although only on this point, since on the subways in Toronto, people are horribly discourteous to each other in many respects that you would NEVER see in Japan, giving up seats to persons with needs is a no brainer and done all the time. Same in NYC where we have also travelled extensively with our child.

ADDED:

This is not station staff. Station staff are always very helpful etc.