The Shog-A.I. Shimbun #20: Electric Wheelchairs in Japan: “right to move is missing”

“In Japan, the idea of a right to move is missing. It is not a problem only for people with disabilities. In rural areas, public transportation declines for business reasons and elderly people who cannot drive a car are inconvenienced,” said wheelchair user Hideto Kijima (45) after he was was forced to crawl up a set of stairs to the plane on the now defunct ‘Vanilla Air’ LCC in June 2017.

Vanilla Air later merged with ‘Peach Aviation’ and it was reported on April 13th 2024 that a “Taiwanese national with a physical disability attempted to board a Taiwan-bound flight of low-cost carrier (LCC) Peach Aviation (headquartered in Osaka Prefecture) at Naha Airport in Okinawa, but was denied boarding because the battery in their electric wheelchair was not visible from the outside.”

Episode Notes:

‘Electric Wheelchair User Denied Boarding on Japan LCC ‘Peach’ Due to ‘Visible Battery’: https://barrierfreejapan.com/2024/04/15/electric-wheelchair-user-denied-boarding-on-japan-lcc-peach-to-due-to-visible-battery/

‘Vanilla Airline Incident 1 & a Half Year Later’ (December 9th 2018): https://barrierfreejapan.com/2018/12/10/year-and-half-after-vanilla-airline-incident-japanese-wheelchair-user-reflects-on-disability-issues/