“Access is not just a moment where you solve things,” Mr. Bookman added. “Will that process continue after the Olympics, when the international pressure is gone?”
The questions raised by disability activists are not limited to the 9.6 million people in Japan whom the health ministry categorizes as disabled — more than 7 percent of the population. With the world’s oldest population, Japan will need to accommodate an increasing number of residents with the kinds of measures that people with various disabilities rely on to get around every day.
Advocates said the Paralympics offered an opportunity — some would say missed — to hear from a greater range of people on how to improve accessibility. If the Games could have been held with international spectators, they said, it could have provided an instant panel of everyday experts to test whether measures actually worked in practice.
“I wanted spectators, including people with disabilities, to go into Paralympic venues, come stay in Tokyo and say, ‘Hey, this is missing, or this is not good enough,’” Mr. Hirano said, “and for a lot of people to feel that firsthand and put pressure on the government to reform for the better.”
As an example, he pointed to the large, boxy taxis that have been added to cab fleets in Tokyo to increase accessibility. Wheelchair users have said that taxi drivers often do not stop when hailed or ask them to pay extra fees, arguing that rolling out ramps to help them board is cumbersome.
Keisuke Seto, a spokesman for Toyota Japan Taxi, acknowledged some of the complaints but said that “we have reformed the process of taking out the ramp to make it easier for drivers,” reducing it from a 63-step to a 24-step process.
Aside from infrastructure, activists said the Paralympics could motivate people with disabilities who may feel limited in what they can do.