Will Miss #172 - access for the blind

What Japan lacks in services for the handicapped (Won't Miss #167), it makes up for in accommodation of the blind. Since I first arrived in Japan, I have noticed that there are bumpy yellow dots at stopping points at crosswalks and on train platforms so the blind can feel where to stand. I've also noticed that braille is used in many places. What is more, Japanese money is designed to be easy for blind people to use. There are little bumps on paper money and each bill is a slightly different size. Coins are also varied in size and some have holes and others are solid.

My mother is blind, and I appreciate seeing the attention put into making life easier for the blind.

Won't Miss #167 - poor accomodation of the handicapped

Often I will see people in wheelchairs parked outside of shops uncomfortably waiting for something or other. What I have discovered is that, because the shops are narrow and won't accommodate their chairs, they either have to have someone go into the shop and buy something for them, or ask the shopkeepers themselves to bring out what they want. There's a man who lives close to me who lost his legs and he goes to the local 99 yen shop to buy food. To accomplish this, he has to ask the clerk to bring things out and show him them so he can decide what to buy. What is more, many of the public transportation facilities are not designed for people who can't climb copious numbers of stairs; the older subway stations in particular are bad for both the elderly and handicapped.

I won't miss this lack of accommodation of people with disabilities in light of the fact that Japan has the wealth and capability to put the necessary technology and structures in place to help them.