The Japanese Government is making any hotel with over 50 rooms have at least a one percent being wheelchair-friendly by September 2019.
With the 2020 Olympic Games being hosted in Tokyo, the country wants to become more accessible before the event.
The ruling states that any newly built hotels and inns with 50 or more rooms will be required to make at least 1 percent of the rooms wheelchair-friendly. Current laws state that hotels with 50 or more rooms need to have one room minimum wheelchair friendly, but with some hotels like the Shinagawa Prince Hotel fitting 3,680 rooms in one property, the percentile ruling could help.
Centrally located hotels may be hesitant to renovate due to high costs of that type of work in metropolitan areas. To help with this initiative, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japan Tourism Agency have agreed to subsidize the costs. Tokyo hotels have had high occupancy rates this year, so its likely hotels will have second thoughts about taking rooms out of operation for renovations.
