English translation of an article originally published in Japanese on October 16, 2025. Read the Japanese original (Japanese). Event dates and availability refer to the original article. Images may contain Japanese text.
After Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan closed on October 13, 2025, we retrieved the two mobile patient lifts installed at its east and west Accessibility Centers.
If there is a lift available at the restroom outside, you can go to where you want.
As a result of such feedback, a project was implemented to introduce a lift in the restrooms at the Osaka/Kansai World’s Fair venue.
For individuals who regularly use a care lift, the absence of a lift available at public restrooms outside of their home can be a factor that hinders outings and social participation. In this project, a floor-traveling care lift was installed at the East-West Accessibility Center to create an environment that can be used by those who need it.
The background of this project includes the initiative that began in the UK and has been spreading, regarding Changing Places Toilets.
Changing Places Toilets are toilets equipped with sufficient space, adult-accessible transfer benches, and care lifts. They are facilities designed to support the outdoor activities and social participation of people with disabilities and their families, as well as caregivers, and are being installed primarily in the UK.
At the International Diaper Forum held at the Festival Station in Osaka, Japan, on June 25, 2025, during the Kansai World Expo, Jenny Miller of PAMIS and Fiona Souter, who have been involved in the activities of Changing Places Toilets, presented case studies on the actual installation and utilization of Changing Places Toilets in the UK. They discussed not only the features of the facilities but also how the improvement of toilet environments has brought changes to the lives of people with disabilities and their families in terms of outings, daily life, and social participation, sharing these real cases with Japanese audiences.
It was a precious opportunity to hear about efforts that have been accumulated overseas directly and to engage with those who have been involved in putting them into practice.
As vice representative of the Japan Welfare Medical Fashion Association, the general incorporated association that organized and planned the event, Hiroshi Yagi, the representative of our company, was involved in the planning and implementation of this project.
The efforts in the Osaka/Kansai World’s Fair have concluded, but this is not the end, but the beginning. This time, we will not end the experiences gained as temporary cases, but connect them to the next facility, event, and public space. I want to pass on the baton received from abroad to the next practitioners.
This initiative was made possible with the support of many of you. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to this project.
[Hosted / Planned]Japan Welfare Medical Fashion Association
Nonprofit Organization Weelog
DPI Japan (nonprofit organization)
[Operations]Japan Welfare Medical Fashion Association
Abilities Care-net, Inc.
[Item Sponsorship]Abilities Care-net, Inc.
[Related Sites]Official Website of Osaka-Kansei Expohttps://www.expo2025.or.jp/universalinfo/facilities/
Osaka-Kansei Expo Care Lift Rental
https://jwmf.jp/hoist/
Changing Places Toilets
https://www.changing-places.org/
International Diaper Forum
https://jwmf.jp/idf2025/
Toward the installation of care lifts in the restrooms of the Osaka/Kansai World’s Fair
https://wheelog.com/hp/archives/32224
