TOP for Everyone (Accessibility)
The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum aims to be a place that everyone can enjoy. “Accessibility” means “everyone can use it.” People’s bodies work and move in different ways, and people receive and experience information in different ways. We are working so that every visitor to this museum can go where they want, see what they want, and learn what they want. (This page is written in easy English so that as many people as possible can read it.)
Welcome to the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Guide Video with Sign Language, Subtitles, and Voice Narration
In this video, a presenter explains how to get to the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and introduces its facilities. (in Japanese)
Guide Pamphlet in Easy Japanese
Guide Pamphlet in Easy Japanese[pdf_1.3mb]
Admission and Discounts
Accessible Routes
Route Guides
The “Access” page shows how to get to the museum from JR Ebisu Station and Tokyo Metro Ebisu Station. It has “accessible routes” that are easy to use with a wheelchair, guides with photos, and descriptive guides for visitors with visual impairments
Access
Accessible Parking
Accessible parking is available for visitors who use a wheelchair or need extra space when getting in and out of a vehicle. There is one accessible parking space (220 cm wide × 630 cm deep). Please show your disability certificate or a similar document. Use is free of charge. Before your visit, please call to check whether the space is available
Tel: 03-3280-0099
Wheelchair Lift
The wheelchair lift is between the accessible parking space and the stairs to the museum’s South Entrance. To use it, please call a staff member on the intercom near the lift.
Accessibility Inside the Museum
Floor Map
Assistance Dogs
You can enter the museum with your service dog, seeing-eye dog, or hearing dog.
Ramps, Automatic Doors, and Tactile Paving
The museum entrances and the exhibition gallery entrances have automatic doors. There is a wheelchair-accessible ramp to the Hall entrance. Tactile paving is laid along the walkways inside the museum. There is no tactile paving inside the Hall, Studio, exhibition galleries, Library, or Cafe.
Elevators
There are two wheelchair-accessible elevators. The elevator on the left stops at floors B1F to 4F. The one on the right stops at floors B1F to 3F. The doors open from the center. The doorway is 110 cm wide × 210 cm high. Voice announcements are provided, and the buttons have braille. Inside, each elevator is 200 cm wide × 170 cm deep × 240 cm high. There is a mirror at the back and handrails on three sides.
Accessible Toilets
There is an accessible toilet on every floor. The doors are automatic. You can enter with a wheelchair or stroller. Ostomates can use the accessible toilet on the 1st floor. For locations, please see the Universal Guidebook.
Universal Guidebook [pdf_1.8mb]
Universal Guidebook: Descriptive Guide
Wheelchairs and Rollators (Mobility Aid)
You can borrow a wheelchair (one you can move yourself or have someone push) or a “Handy Walk” rollator, a mobility aid that helps you walk. They can be used inside the museum. They are free of charge. They may be in use by other visitors, and reservations are not accepted. Please ask at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor.
Wheelchair Spaces (1st Floor Hall)
Inside the Hall on the 1st floor, there is a space for visitors who use wheelchairs. It holds three wheelchairs and is 252 cm wide × 89 cm deep.
Cushions (1st Floor Hall and Other Areas)
You can borrow a cushion to support your body while sitting. Please ask at the Hall information desk.
Assistance at the Information Desks
Multilingual Support
Staff who speak English, Chinese, and Korean are at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor.
Writing Boards for Communication
Writing boards are available at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor, the information desk on each floor, and the Library counter.
UD Talk (Speech-to-Text App)
Staff can assist you using UD Talk at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor, the information desk on each floor, and the Library counter. UD Talk is a communication app that turns speech into text.
Point-and-Communicate Sheets
Visitors who find it hard to speak can ask staff questions by pointing at the sheet. The sheets are at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor and at the Hall information desk.
Support Staff
If you have any problems or questions, please ask the support staff at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor. The support staff wear badges.
Support for Enjoying the Exhibitions
Gallery Talks with Text Display Support
The museum holds “gallery talks,” in which curators introduce the highlights of an exhibition. On some days, gallery talks include text display support. When you scan a 2D barcode with your smartphone, it links to a page that shows what the curator is saying as text. The text can be shown in around 30 languages.
Annual Schedule of Gallery Talks with Sign Language Interpretation and Text Display Support
(in Japanese)
Public Programs
These are workshops that children and adults can enjoy together and programs that people with disabilities can join comfortably.
Learn: Public Programs
(in Japanese)
All Welcome Day (Viewing Support by TOP Volunteers)
Volunteers support visitors so that everyone can enjoy the museum comfortably. Using the museum’s facilities and tools, they give individual support for about one hour. It is free of charge. Support is generally provided only in Japanese.
All Welcome Day: Annual Schedule
(in Japanese)
Library User Guide [Library]
Library User Guide [pdf_3.1mb](in Japanese)
Video Magnifier and Magnifying Glasses [Library]
A video magnifier is a device that makes text and photos easier to see. You place a book under its camera, and the device shows the page enlarged on a screen. It can also reverse black and white. Magnifying glasses are available in three powers: 2x, 4x, and 7x. Both the video magnifier and the magnifying glasses can be used only inside the Library. To borrow one, please ask at the Library counter.
Hearing Loop [Hall]
A hearing loop is a system that connects to the telecoil in hearing aids and cochlear implants to make sound easier to hear. It can be used during screenings and talk events in the Hall on the 1st floor. Please check that your hearing aid or cochlear implant has a T-coil (T-mode) switch or a program that supports T-coil use. If you do not wear a hearing aid, you can borrow a receiver. Please ask at the Hall information desk on the 1st floor.
Visiting with Small Children
Nursing Room
The nursing room is next to the accessible toilet on the 1st floor. You can enter with your stroller. It is a private room with a lock. It has two chairs, a table, and a diaper-changing table. The sink has hot water, so you can prepare baby formula.
Diaper-Changing Tables
Diaper-changing tables are in the nursing room on the 1st floor and in the accessible toilets on every floor.
Strollers
You can borrow a stroller. It can be used inside the museum. It is free of charge. Strollers may be in use by other visitors, and reservations are not accepted. Please ask at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor.
For a Comfortable Visit
Tactile Maps
Visitors with visual impairments can borrow a map printed with braille and raised surfaces that can be read by touch. Please ask at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor. (Japanese braille only)
Places to Rest
The 2nd floor lobby has tables, chairs, and benches. There are also benches in the 1st and 3rd floor lobbies. There are also spaces where you can rest if you feel unwell. Please ask at the information desk on each floor or ask a nearby staff member.
Sensory Kits
Visitors who are sensitive to sound or light can borrow tools that help them spend time in the museum calmly and comfortably. Each bag contains earmuffs that soften sound, glasses that soften light, and other items. Please ask at the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor.
Drinking Fountains
Drinking fountains are located on floors B1F, 1F, 2F, and 3F. There are two on each floor. The lower one can be used from a wheelchair.
AEDs
AEDs are located next to the Main Information Desk on the 1st floor and in the 3rd floor lobby.
Universal Guidebook
This guidebook explains the museum’s accessibility features.
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum Universal Guidebook [pdf_1.8mb] (in Japanese)
Contact
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us. Tel: 03-3280-0099 Depending on conditions in the museum, the content of exhibitions, the facilities, and staff availability, we may not be able to meet every request.