When Yusuke Ishimori was about to get on a bus last autumn to head to Sendai from his home in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, he was refused boarding. The reason, he was told, was that his electric wheelchair was too heavy.
"So people with disabilities in disaster-hit regions can't even go on an outing?" the 26-year-old recalled thinking.
The bus was running as substitute transportation for railway service interrupted by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters.