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My wife and I would like to visit Tokyo. She uses a walker and we were wondering about accessibility of the city in general.
Tokyo is not the friendliest place in the world for people with a disability. If you stick to the main places, you should be fine. All department stores and most train stations have some sort of accessibility. You should be able to find an escalator or elevator. If you go to a small shop, you may not find it. Major hotels, and most medium sized hotels, should be accessible too. Some places have small escalators or elevators but with a walker, you should be okay. Temples and shrines are a different story. While not all of them require you to walk up steps, many of them do as they are situated on hills. In Tokyo, Sensoji is relatively easily accessible as there are only steps to reach the main temple. The main courtyard doesn't have steps. Zojoji has a few more steps in the courtyard than and at Meiji Jingu, the road to the shrine is not paved. It is soft stone making the use of a walker or cane a little difficult but not impossible. In Kyoto, you would have to be aware that Kiyomizudera is on the side of a hill/mountain, and no elevators or escalators. Kinkakuji has stairs behind the main pavilion. Hope that gives you a good idea on what you should expect.
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I use a cane for part of most days and I certainly would not have wanted any more of an accessibility aid than that in Japan. I used it less when were were there six years ago than I do today. The areas of interst tend to be fairly old and were never designed for accessibility. The streets and subways are very busy. There seems to be some level of marking for the visually impaird at subway stations and sidewalks. Tokyo, Kyoto and the other large cities are not particularly friendly for people with mobility issues.
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I would say the same - it is not the best place for person using walker, but if you try to avoid rush hours, you will find elevator in most of train/metro stations. In hotels you will find lift as well. I don't think it is imposible, but not very easy. If you really want to go to Tokyo, just do it, you will manage the chalange.
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Another thing, the trains all have disability seats. In Tokyo, they tend to be at the ends of the cars. In Osaka, they are in the middle. Just be aware of them. My uncle came to Tokyo several years ago and had a broken food. He had crutches and people usually got up for him. If you have a cane, they may not, but if it is blatantly obvious that you could use the seat, people usually get up.
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