Your Brave Step Changes Your Environment - Tatsuya Miyoshi, Wheelchair Traveler

If you were ever forced to live in a wheelchair, would you consider attempting a trip around the world?

Would you want the journey to be not just for yourself, but to inspire someone else to take a courageous step forward?

In Japan, there is someone who has taken on challenges beyond anyone's imagination.

That person is Tatsuya Miyo, also known as the Wheelchair Traveler.
With a backpack hanging from the handles of his wheelchair and a travel bag on his lap, Miyo, who has quadriplegia, travels solo both domestically and internationally as a "Wheelchair Traveler." His 9-month journey around the world is filled with discoveries, hope, and courage.

"If I can encourage someone I meet on my travels, that would make me happier than anything else," he says, never stopping his forward momentum.

Miyo values human connections. In recent years, it has been said that communication with others has become scarce due to the impact of COVID-19. The idea of cherishing human connections is something we must not forget in today's world, where we live alongside the coronavirus.

We humans have a wealth of potential. Miyo seems to demonstrate how to unlock that potential through his actions.

This article aims to share Miyo's approach with the world.

"Traveling is impossible for me," "Even if I want to do something, I can't muster the courage."
If you feel this way, I hope this article provides you with courage and energy.

*Information was confirmed and partially updated on March 13, 2026.

1. Who is Tatsuya Miyo?

Affectionately known as "Miyocchi," Miyo is well-loved by many.

When the author asked people around Miyo, "If you had to describe Miyo in one word, what would it be?" everyone unanimously answered, "A person who values once-in-a-lifetime encounters, someone with straightforward kindness that brings smiles to those around him."

What kind of life has Miyo led?
Let's delve into his hobbies, life, and achievements.

[Hobbies]
・Traveling (mainly solo trips)
・Supporting others' challenges (e.g., taking someone beyond their existing worldview, showing them new experiences and worlds)
・Visiting clubs and bars overseas
・Conversations with elderly people

[Background]
・Born November 30, 1988, in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture
・Raised in a kendo family, he excelled in a gas station part-time job, winning a prize in an Eastern Japan customer service competition
・Suffered a spinal cord injury in a motorcycle accident, resulting in quadriplegia and a life in a wheelchair
・Joined the wheelchair twin basketball team "BLAYS" (now graduated)
・Used summer vacation from his job to travel solo to Hawaii for the first time (where he discovered his love for travel)
・Decided to embark on a world tour to inspire others to take their first steps
・Traveled to over 42 cities in 23 countries over nine months, completing a world tour
・Began sharing his travel experiences and life philosophy to encourage people who had given up on taking their first steps to see new environments and worlds, and started giving lectures to support others' challenges
・Authored "No Rain, No Rainbow: My Journey Around the World in a Wheelchair After Dying Once"
・Moved to Okinawa in March 2021 to start a new life

Here are Miyo's achievements, including his lectures, as of May 13, 2022.

[Achievements]

・Over 30,000 followers on social media
・Featured in over 20 media outlets, including web, radio, TV, and newspapers
・Gave over 150 lectures for NPOs, companies, schools, municipalities, and commercial facilities
・Participated in a symposium on universal tourism organized by the Japan Tourism Agency
・Part-time lecturer at Ryukyu Rehabilitation Academy
・Lectured for H.I.S. Co., Ltd.
・Lectured for ANA (All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.)
・Appointed as a special supporter for the H.I.S. Universal Tourism Desk
・Supervised the creation of wheelchair-accessible tours with H.I.S. (e.g., trips to Hawaii for wheelchair users)
・Appointed as an official supporter of Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive

・Featured in the 2022 English textbook for new high school freshmen with an episode about traveling the world in a wheelchair

・Hosts a radio show every Wednesday at 9:00 PM on Okinawa's radio station "Oki Radio"

・Regular guest on Okinawa's TV station - RBC Ryukyu Broadcasting "Koza's Backside" (every Monday at 1:30 AM)

Despite these remarkable achievements, Miyo has a dark past that not everyone knows about.

2. A Turning Point in Life

There was someone who saved Miyo from the depths of despair.
It was a person he met at a rehabilitation facility in Shizuoka, someone he considers a mentor in life.

What did Miyo learn from this person?

After a motorcycle accident left Miyo with a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia, he moved to a facility in Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture, for rehabilitation. However, he had lost the will to live and spent his days feeling aimless and anxious.

One day, a man of his parents' generation with the same disability approached him and said, "You're being spoiled." This comment was a turning point, transforming his days of listlessness and anxiety. Miyo began to refer to this man as his mentor.

The mentor gave Miyo a significant mission:
・Return home to Ibaraki from the rehabilitation facility in Shizuoka by train
・The mentor believed that "Miyo can do more!" and encouraged him to live alone in Tokyo

With the help of the knowledge and wisdom of many friends, Miyo overcame these challenges.

Thanks to the support and advice of his mentor and the friends he met through his actions, as well as the confidence and determination he gained from overcoming difficulties, Miyo was able to embark on a solo trip to Hawaii. This trip to Hawaii marked the starting point of his journey around the world.

*Photo of Miyo and his mentor at the time

Thus, he was reborn as a Wheelchair Traveler, experiencing the kindness and culture of foreign lands.

What Miyo learned from his mentor was the importance of "challenging oneself and taking action."

Whenever someone takes on a challenge or takes action, they may face failures, anxieties, and ridicule from others. However, even if they fail, their actions can become a source of wealth and courage for someone else.

The mentor's advice conveys the message that "Only through challenges and actions can you change your own future. After the future changes, it becomes an experience that influences others."

Thanks to his encounter with his mentor, Miyo began to see a bright future filled with hope. Additionally, it is Miyo's thoughts, actions, and determination that have brought him to where he is today.

3. Weaving People, Kindness, and Heart ~ Changing One Life ~

It is often said that true connections cannot be made through social media.

However, Miyo changed one person's life through a connection made on social media.

It all began with a message from a woman before his world tour.
The woman, who was forced to live in a wheelchair due to an accident, reached out to him.

"I am a wheelchair user living in Miyagi. After an accident a few years ago, I've been living a reclusive life for years. I don't have any friends who are also wheelchair users, so if you don't mind, could you be my first friend who uses a wheelchair?"

Miyo immediately replied, "Of course, nice to meet you."
From then on, the woman in Miyagi continued to support Miyo on social media.

The connection that began online turned into a bond of hearts, and they became friends.
Then, a miracle happened.

After his world tour, the woman, who had been reclusive for years, attended an H.I.S.-hosted lecture in Tokyo.

She had heard about the lecture and took the Shinkansen alone to attend Miyo's lecture, where she knew no one.

But it didn't stop there.

Thanks to Miyo's important message to her, she underwent a significant transformation.
"The importance of not leaving everything to others and taking action yourself."

During an event that combined Miyo's lecture with a gathering of the General Incorporated Association WheeLog, she asked Miyo to introduce her to Yuriko Oda. In response, Miyo gently encouraged her, saying, "Why don't you try approaching her yourself?"

Encouraged by Miyo's words, she approached Oda on her own, and this experience led her to "begin taking proactive actions, such as initiating conversations."

Before meeting Miyo, she was reclusive and would tell her children, "I can't believe you can make friends with strangers." The connection through social media changed someone with such a mindset.

She says, "If it weren't for that encounter, I think I would have continued to be reclusive. Meeting Tatsuya (Miyo) gave me the key of courage, and when I opened the door, Yuriko (Yuriko Oda) was there at the top of the stairs, and I've been climbing those stairs, cherishing human connections ever since."

Thanks to her encounter with Miyo through social media, she values human connections and taking action herself. She always shares Miyo's story at the lectures she participates in.

Please check out Miyo's Instagram and Facebook. Smiles abound around him. The people who meet and connect with him go beyond mere connections. Miyo continues to connect people's kindness and hearts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wheelchair_traveler_miyo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tatsuya.miyo

4. Why Continue Living in Okinawa

It is said that the people of Okinawa have a "barrier-free heart." Those who have been to Okinawa may understand the foundation of this barrier-free heart.

It is "Yui-maru." In one word, Yui-maru means "helping each other."

In Okinawa, when someone is in trouble, people say things like, "Shall I push your wheelchair?" "What's wrong?" "Is there anything I can do?"

"I may not be able to offer money, but I want to help you."
"If there's anything I can do, I'll help."

This way of thinking, deeply rooted in Okinawa, is truly a barrier-free heart and aligns with the concept of universal design. Miyo feels a great warmth from the Yui-maru spirit in Okinawa.

Additionally, this Okinawan culture seems to connect with his experiences during his world tour and in Hawaii.

"It's incredibly comfortable. With these people, you can overcome barriers with human power, even if the environment isn't barrier-free."

Miyo says this is the charm of Okinawa.

5. "Living for Someone Else"

Thank you for reading this far.

Are you thinking, "It's possible because it's Miyo?"

As the writer of this article, I think this: