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Image description

Umi wears a bright colourful sweater, seated in her wheelchair. The background features a broken chain and different textures ripped up. Design: Becki Moss

Umi Asaka on hitchhiking in her wheelchair

By Becki Moss

Umi Asaka is a proud second-generation disabled person who grew up in Japan and now lives in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) where she works as a researcher. Umi is an avid traveller and has been to 18 countries and counting.

  • Custom Club is a six-part video series about mobility aids and the liberation they represent, produced by Becki Moss and created in partnership with Independent Living.

  • Read the the transcript of the video of Umi below.

    [Becki: What’s the greatest adventure you’ve been on together?]

    Umi: My preference is always to travel with my manual chair, but it means that I always need somebody to push me around. So I hitchhike on the streets sometimes. In Sydney, I was supposed to be traveling with my friend, but she had to urgently go back for some family urgency.

    So I was left alone in Sydney once. And so I hitchhiked to Sydney city, which was fun. I met some really good people and some slightly dodgy people along the way but I was safe again. So, you know, as long as you don't die, it's all good.

    [Becki: What freedom or liberation has this given you?]

    Umi: Without my chair, I don't have any other tool to get out of the house in the beginning. So I think it's my lifeline to connect to the world. I've been able to travel to 18 countries.

    I’ve been able to go to beaches, mountains... Although it's not so recommended, like your chair gets stuck as soon as you get onto the beach. But thanks to my friends' perseverance, I have been on lots of beaches that's not accessible.

    So really like (my) wheelchair is part of my body. But I don't take care of it as well as I should.

Image description: Umi wears a colourful sweater and sits in a wheelchair, smiling warmly. She is in an office with bookshelves filled with books and folders.

Image description: Umi wears a colourful patterned sweater and sits in her wheelchair. Sunlight filters through a window behind her, along with a bookshelf.

Image description: Umi wears a colourful patterned sweater and smiles warmly in a cozy office filled with bookshelves.

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