thinking of making a new home in japan

[synthia]

I'd love to believe attitudes have changed. I remember a world of no ramps, and being stunned the one time I saw someone in a wheelchair after having spent more than half a year there.

[velder]

Originally Posted by synthia

I'd love to believe attitudes have changed. I remember a world of no ramps, and being stunned the one time I saw someone in a wheelchair after having spent more than half a year there.

How long ago were you here? I gather you didn't enjoy your time here. On a few occasions I have seen droves of disabled people come off the train and make their way to the Intex Halls - there must have been a show specific to their needs because I really do mean DROVES of people. On one of these occasions, I happened to be at the train station where they had extra staff to assist the disabled by sliding a ramp between the platform and train.

[synthia]

Originally Posted by velder

at the train station where they had extra staff to assist the disabled by sliding a ramp between the platform and train.

My question would be whether those people are available on a routine basis for a person traveling alone, or whether special arrangements were made for whatever the event was.

It has been a long time, early 90's.

The original poster has long disappeared, but I always thought the plan was flawed for two reasons, the OP did not have sufficient income to live in Japan, and something like the recent rise of the yen against the dollar would have been devastating, and the problem of access.

[synthia]

Well, on an income of $900 US per month, the OP isn't going to be hiring people to care for her, and I doubt she'd be eligible for any government programs.

I enjoyed my time in Japan, actually. I spent three months in Tokyo, then came back later for a year. I wouldn't have returned if I hadn't liked it.

The OP would have had one more problem, getting a visa that would allow her to stay.

[larabell]

As for the access thing, like just about anything else in Japan, it's going to depend on where one lives. There seems to be a renewed awareness of the issues of access here in Tokyo. The station employees seem ready to assist wheelchair-bound passengers at any time with no special arrangement. And most stations have been installing wide ticket gates, escalators, elevators, ramps, and signs leading to them which specifically refer to handicapped access. Government buildings, too. It's very similar to the changes that happened a couple decades ago in the US -- where there was a specific program in place to improve accessibility. But I would not expect such rapid progress (or even awareness of the issues) in outlying areas.

Like Synthia said, the more pressing issues will be obtaining a visa and finding enough money to survive. Actually, the latter is usually the crux of the matter. If one has enough income to survive *and* take up Ikebana or something like that, a non-working visa is not all that hard to come by, from what I've heard.

[velder]

Originally Posted by synthia

My question would be whether those people are available on a routine basis for a person traveling alone, or whether special arrangements were made for whatever the event was.

It has been a long time, early 90's.

The original poster has long disappeared, but I always thought the plan was flawed for two reasons, the OP did not have sufficient income to live in Japan, and something like the recent rise of the yen against the dollar would have been devastating, and the problem of access.

The extra staff were especially arranged for the event. A lot of disabled and aged do live around my area and wheelchair access is pretty good in all of the places I have been to in Osaka.

As for the $900 the OP asked about, there was fair mention of it already in the thread that I didn't bother having my say on that. But yes, it is too little an amount to live on in Japan and I agree there is also the visa issue. For foreigners who don't speak Japanese, you need to rely on work colleagues and friends for translations.