Do you know about barrier-free maps?
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, they are defined as follows:
Maps that compile information about stations, public facilities, roads, parks, and other places where barriers have been removed, so that everyone can use the facilities and services equally
Quote: What Are Barrier-Free Maps? An Introduction to Their Content and Features
Okayama Prefecture is also working with the app WheeLog, which shares barrier-free information based on wheelchair users’ experiences, to create barrier-free maps. However, since information changes daily, it needs to be constantly updated.
Moriue Miho, who organizes wheelchair city-walking events mainly in Kurashiki City to create barrier-free maps, is planning a talk session in Soja City in January 2026 featuring wheelchair users who participate in the event.
We spoke with her about what she hopes to convey to Soja City residents through the lecture.
The information presented here is current as of the article’s publication in January 2026. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What Are Wheelchair City-Walking Events?
Every spring and autumn in Kurashiki City, wheelchair users and non-disabled people form groups and walk around the city while creating barrier-free maps at an event called the Wheelchair City-Walking Event.
The event has usually been held in the Bikan Historical Area, but in autumn 2025 it moved to Kojima Jeans Street, taking on the challenge of holding the event in a new location.
The event is organized by Moriue Miho, a physical therapist.
She works to share barrier-free information about tourist facilities and restaurants, mainly in Okayama Prefecture, so wheelchair users can enjoy sightseeing freely.
A wheelchair city-walking event in Soja City is planned for Sunday, March 22, 2026, and participants are being sought.
The March wheelchair city-walking event in Soja City will create a printed barrier-free map that anyone can pick up and use.
What Is the “Fostering the Ability to Receive Support” Lecture?
The “Fostering the Ability to Receive Support” lecture will be held at Chuppy Hall in Soja City Hall on Sunday, January 18, 2026, from 7 p.m.
It is organized by the Okayama Prefecture Wheelchair City-Walking Event Executive Committee, which is made up of organizations that support the wheelchair city-walking events.
The organizing committee includes wheelchair users, and participation by wheelchair users and others who need accommodations is anticipated. Medical professionals are also involved, so people who need medical care can participate as well.
If you need accommodations, please tell the organizers by message when registering what kind of accommodations you need.
Caregivers are also required to pay the 2,000-yen participation fee.
The lecture consists of the following two parts:
- Keynote address by Nagano Ryo
- Talk session
Nagano, who will give the keynote address, has lived with a wheelchair since childhood due to congenital cerebral palsy.
After graduating from the senior high division of a special needs school, he went on to university and found a job, but also experienced physical and mental health problems. He is currently active with ePARA United, an 11-a-side wheelchair e-soccer team, while also enthusiastically taking part in events and media appearances.
The three speakers in the talk session are:
- Omori Atsushi
CONE・Xi Co., Ltd.; Okayama Universal Tourism Study Group - Yamane Sota
Representative Director, TheraGATE Co., Ltd.; Community Revitalization Cooperator for Kasaoka City - Doi Shuhei
28 LLC; Representative Member of Day Service Soda
Interview with the Organizer
We interviewed Moriue Miho, organizer of the “Fostering the Ability to Receive Support” lecture, about what inspired her to hold it.
Could you tell us the purpose of the lecture?
Moriue (surname only)
We will hold a wheelchair city-walking event in Soja City in 2026, so I planned this lecture to bring together people who can join us.
Nagano, who will give the keynote address, is also one of the participants in Kurashiki’s wheelchair city-walking events.
He has a congenital disability and uses a wheelchair, and is a mood-maker who is always at the center of the people around him. He is also a genius at asking others for help.
I have a lot to learn from Nagano’s mindset: he values his connections with others and actively takes on challenges in everything he does.
This time, Nagano will speak about the idea of “the ability to receive support,” helping attendees realize that people with disabilities and caregivers alike have places to turn to beyond their families.
A “Community Co-Creation Talk Session” is also planned after the keynote address.
Moriue
By the time Nagano’s keynote address ends, everyone in the audience should be feeling positive and thinking, “Maybe I can try relying on someone, too.”
In the second half, we’ll invite people who work in Okayama Prefecture under the theme of “welfare × ___” to speak and share what they do.
Omori Atsushi works on welfare × travel and, in 2025, made a group trip to the Osaka-Kansai Expo possible with people with disabilities.
Yamane Sota works on welfare × sports and promotes ground golf, a sport that is hugely popular among seniors and is also an official event at Nenrinpic (the National Health and Welfare Festival for Older Adults), often called the National Sports Festival for older people.
Doi Shuhei works on welfare × community development and runs Soda, a day-service facility in Soja City that is open to the local community.
Through the three speakers’ presentations, people with disabilities and those around them should gain a concrete idea of the kinds of support they can actually turn to.
You mentioned that your goal is to “bring together people for wheelchair city walks.” Could you tell us a little more specifically about that?
Moriue
In 2026, with a grant from the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Okayama Foundation for Everyone, we will create a barrier-free map of Soja City.
However, since no wheelchair city-walking events have been held in Soja City before, we are currently looking for people to join us in this work.
If hearing Nagano’s story makes you think that you’d like to connect with other wheelchair users or families like yours, I hope you’ll also join the wheelchair city-walking event being held on Sunday, March 22.
We’re also planning a welfare equipment tryout event that day, so it will be a chance to connect with people in the welfare field, too.
As a physical therapist, I often hear caregivers talk about how hard it is to shoulder caregiving alone. Barrier-free maps provide essential information for people like them, and I hope that by taking part in creating one, they’ll also meet others they can connect with.
What would you like attendees to take away from the lecture?
Moriue
Nagano is a mood-maker and a genius at asking others for help, but many things happened along the way to shaping his current outlook. His story will surely have a lot that everyone living in modern society can relate to, regardless of whether they have a disability.
I hope many people, young and old, and with or without disabilities, will feel more positive.
Nagano came all the way from the Kanto region to Kurashiki to take part in a wheelchair city walk. His story about being “light on his feet despite having no feet” should give you the courage to do your best starting tomorrow.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Moriue
Nagano has sent a message for all our readers, so I’ll read it aloud.
The theme this time is “the ability to receive support.”
There are many things I was able to do because I relied on others, and many sights I was able to see because I was with someone.
Regardless of whether you were born with a disability, there will surely be times when you need help from others.
On the day, why not think together about “the ability to receive support,” with stories from Okayama as well?
We look forward to welcoming you.
From the Writer
The currently showing film Last Man: FIRST LOVE also features a protagonist who is completely blind, played by Fukuyama Masaharu, solving cases by relying on others and making use of his talents.
People with disabilities are increasingly portrayed not as objects of protection, but as members of society who rely on those around them while also helping one another.
It is precisely in times like these that this lecture will offer a fitting opportunity for everyone living in an inclusive society to pause and consider what “the ability to receive support” means.
“Fostering the Ability to Receive Support” Lecture by Nagano Ryo Information
| Name | “Fostering the Ability to Receive Support” Lecture by Nagano Ryo |
|---|---|
| Date | Sunday, January 18, 2026 7:00–9:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) |
| Location | 1-1-1 Chuo, Soja City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission fee (tax included) | 2,000 yen per person |
| Website | Official Team Buratabi Okayama Instagram |
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