Trials are underway on Japan's southernmost inhabited island to help make travel by wheelchair more comfortable and enjoyable, wherever people wish to go.
The International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition was held in October 2025 at Tokyo Big Sight.
Among the 414 exhibitors showcasing a diverse range of welfare equipment and assistive technologies, Toyota presented vehicles currently under development, mobile toilet solutions, and other mobility innovations.
One of the featured devices was a one-touch wheelchair securement system.
With the simple action of hooking onto a wheelchair’s anchor bar and pressing a button, the system allows the wheelchair to be securely fixed in place. Development continues with the goal of making it available on public transportation by land, sea, and air.
Toyota Times News covered land-based public transit in 2024, featuring a trial on a public bus. This time, the focus is on transportation at sea.
The trial is being conducted on a high-speed ferry connecting Hateruma Island, Japan’s southernmost inhabited island, with Ishigaki Island in the Yaeyama Archipelago, Okinawa Prefecture.
Ferry travel has traditionally been something many wheelchair users hesitate to choose, partly because rough seas can cause significant motion.
Participants experienced both the simplicity and the sense of safety provided by the device. One participant shared with a smile, “I never imagined I could come here in a wheelchair. It truly adds color to my life.”
The sea-based trial is emerging as a source of hope in addressing remote-island challenges such as healthcare access, caregiving, and tourism.
During the reporting, the development team and participants also visited one of Taketomi Island’s best-known attractions — the traditional water buffalo cart.
Why did they go out of their way to ride a water buffalo cart?
Behind the visit was Toyota’s aspiration, guided by the slogan “Your Journey, Our Mission,” to help fulfill every desire to go somewhere — through this very system.