Photo/Illutration An apartment unit that caters to elderly people and those with disabilities has a corridor 83 centimeters wide and railings. (Provided by Tokyo Metropolitan Housing Supply Corp.)

Tokyo’s Nakano Ward is confronting the graying of society by forging ahead with a program to increase the availability of barrier-free apartments for elderly residents and those with disabilities.

A planned ordinance would require developers to ensure that 20 percent of all units are “barrier-free” in new condominium buildings of at least three stories and with 12 or more units.

Specifically, the entrance and corridors in those units must be at least 80 centimeters wide to accommodate wheelchairs. They must also be fitted with railings or allow for adding them in the future. Railings in bathrooms are another requirement.

The ward government will make recommendations to violators or publish their names.

The ordinance would also call on developers to “make efforts” to provide level and less slippery floors in all rooms.

Ward authorities plan to submit a draft ordinance to the ward assembly session in June, at the earliest, after soliciting comments from residents.

“We believe the requirements are necessary to make Nakano a livable ward for everyone, even if they cost more for developers,” an official said.

An Asahi Shimbun reporter, who uses a wheelchair, had difficulties finding a place to live in Tokyo after she was transferred from Morioka this spring.

A search site lists about 1.3 million for-rent properties in Tokyo, but the number plummets to less than 6,000 when “barrier-free” is added as a search condition.

Options become significantly fewer when wheelchair access to the workplace and other areas, rent and other conditions are taken into consideration.

Making the rounds of potential sites, the reporter found that one house had problems that were not apparent during an online search, such as different floor levels and spots where one cannot make a turn in a wheelchair.

An up-to-standard apartment unit was passed over due to many slopes in the neighborhood.

Some properties were off-limits to wheelchair users on grounds that wheelchairs could damage them.

(This article was compiled from reports by Masashi Kisanuki and Rei Fujii.)