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“Everyone is a minority”, Hideto Kijima told us about the ideal set of minds to achieve an accessible tourism industry.
He is the President of the Japan Accessible Tourism Center. When he was a third year student in high school, he injured his spinal cord when playing rugby. From then on, he has used a wheel chair to get around. Despite this difficulty, he has visited 157 countries in his wheelchair.
He looks at travelling as a way to achieve world peace. When we travel we let go of one`s assumptions and get to know the true fact about places and people in the world. Throughout the years he travels, he also acquired firsthand knowledge of the differences and comparison of the accessible tourism within the different countries.
He looks at traveling as a way to achieve world peace. When we travel we let go of one`s assumptions and get to know the true fact about places and people in the world. Throughout the years he travels, he also acquired firsthand knowledge of the differences and comparison of the accessible tourism within the different countries.
“The Japanese government tend to aim for the perfect standard, they should focus more on simplicity and accessibility”, he stated. When comparing traveling in Japan to traveling in India, he said “When people asked me where the best place to travel is, I said India, because it is so cheap”. For him, it is more important to focus on simple and low cost accommodations rather than on the luxury, so that it is accessible for wider targets.
making line between disabled and non-disabled people, the barrier-free world is not impossible to achieve.
One of his final remarks was a strong message for the younger generation, “I hope everyone has a dream, everybody has a right to challenge something, but people are sometimes lazy, if we failed a dream, we can just chase another dream”.
Now that he already achieved his dreams of traveling around the world, Hideto Kijima is looking for another dream to chase.
focus on simple and low cost accommodations rather than on the luxury, so that it is accessible for wider targets.
He went on to reflect on his past personal difficulties with current train travel conditions, saying "27 years ago I could not go with train and now I can". Implying that the society changes and improvement do happen. If only people respect each other differences and stop making line between
He went on to reflect on his past personal difficulties with current train travel conditions, saying “27 years ago I could not go with train and now I can”. Implying that the society changes and improvements do happens. If only people respect each other differences and stop making line between disabled and non-disabled people, the barrier-free world is not impossible to achieve.
Words of Guest Speaker #2
"Everyone is a minority"
By Kaori Nakatani and Adirani Heraputeri
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