Photos From Japan
February 28, 2007
I just returned from a trip to Japan. It wasn't a bike touring trip, though I wish it were; I've heard great things about bike touring in Japan. I had the opportunity to spend a day riding around Aomori, which is on the coast in the northern part of the main island. I modeled my riding style on those around me. I found myself riding sidewalks and riding slowly. People of all ages ride bikes, and there were plenty of seniors with large packages and kids, riding around like it was no big deal. Part of this is that they ride step-through frame bikes. They're solid bikes, very sturdy, and they call them a Mamma Chari. I also saw a few three-wheeled bikes.
Click on any of these photos for a larger version
Bikes are used to carry a lot. Each bike has a least a front basket, often a front basket and a rear child seat. They also mount mini child seats on the top tube so that the parent's arms are around the child while riding. You know those images of other countries where people are carrying bales or hay, refrigerators and other impossibly large objects? Well, I didn't see any of that, but I did see people with large boxes on the back.
Overall bikes were everywhere. They seemed to exist well with cars. Mostly cyclists rode on the sidewalk, sometimes in the street. Japanese drivers are not prone to honking or yelling, so it was hard to guage what they thought of cyclists, but the cyclists, for their part, seemed to be very cautious and respectful road users. It was not uncommon to see a long line of bikes in what would otherwise be a series of car parking spots (like this photo).
I was impressed with the low-key riding style. Again, the Japanese ride slowly. They seem very relaxed. They also don't wear any special gear - which is a little surprising given that they're a nation that absolutely loves uniforms and special gear for specific projects. Skirts, suits, high-heeled boots - you name it, they wore it while riding. I never saw a set of rain pants or a rain coat - even through it rained a lot when I was there. Cyclists frequently ride with one hand on the handlebar and the other holding an umbrella. It's a really graceful riding style.
Overall, bikes are very much a part of the pulse of Japan. They move people and cargo everywhere on a daily basis. They are embraced as a reasonable, standard mode of transportation. Riding a bike seemed as natural as driving a car. I look forward to a time when biking in our culture is as accepted.
Posted by orbike at February 28, 2007 12:19 PM
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Comments
Oh this brings me back! I was in Japan five years ago for work. I had a car, but I chose to be a cyclist most of the time because the weather was lovely and so many of my neighbors and friends were also riding bicycles. Your photographs are very familiar to me and provided a nice moment to reminisce. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: KarenT at March 1, 2007 1:34 AM
Wow, cool! I'd love to go to Japan some day.
Posted by: !! John at March 1, 2007 8:41 AM
So, would you say it was an economic issue or not? Were people in Japan riding bikes because they could not afford to drive cars? From the pictures, it doesn't really appear that way, I'm just curious. So what was car culture like? Were cars EVERYWHERE and the streets croweded and that's why people rode bikes?
Posted by: Timmy at March 1, 2007 5:12 PM
My sense of the place when I was there was that cycling was what people did because it was part of their culture, they embraced cycling, and it wasn't a poverty issue. People there are really smart, and they ride bikes because biking makes sense. I don't know a lot about Japan, but this is what I walked away thinking. Anyone else been there?
Posted by: Christopher Henderson at March 1, 2007 8:04 PM
What's with the masks?
Posted by: XXriderXX at March 1, 2007 8:14 PM
I've lived in Tokyo and Misawa (northern Japan). Most Japanese families have a car, but choose public transportation or bikes during the week. In the rural areas small cars or trucks are more common. The family car is normally used on Sunday for a drive in the country. Car ownership is expensive in Japan; in Toyko you must have a parking spot, and some areas don't allow street parking. Most Japanese cars will be kept for about 2-3 years, then traded in for a new car. Average yearly milage is much lower than the states. Japan drives on the left.
Large trucks have 3 speed indicator lights on top of the cab to allow pedestrians and drivers to gauge their speed. Some drivers consider their car an extension of their living room so street shoes are removed while driving. The mask is used to control the spread of germs, plus it keeps out airborne particles.
Posted by: Sam at March 1, 2007 8:42 PM
Those masks are something the Japanese wear when they are sick so that they do not contaminate other people around them. It is v ery considerate of them. Though I question how effective they are...
Posted by: Trinity at March 1, 2007 11:23 PM
I lived car-free in Japan for 2 years in the mid 1990's. Japan is a great place to live a car-free life style. Bikes are ubiquitous and there are bike-friendly trains that criss-cross the countryside. During my time living there, I also bike toured extensively on Shikoku, Kyuushuu, Honshu and even Okinawa. There are small towns everywhere to get some food, people are friendly (though it helps to know some Japanese if you want to travel in "inaka", ie. the rural countryside) and at the end of the day you are assured a nice hot soak at an onsen (hot spring)or public bath house. I can't wait to go back on vacation and tour again!
Susan
Posted by: Susan Otcenas at March 2, 2007 1:14 AM
Hi Ayleen,
Welcome back to PDXville. So ya liked those umbrella bikers! Perhaps we will have to do an update to our Dutch movie...Biking Like A Japanese Man [in the rain].
Also did you get a chance to see any bikestation like facilities? Any automatic bike parking technology we should plan to see on our bikestation.org Japan tour this summer?
See you at Alice this week.
Posted by: Todd at March 6, 2007 7:11 AM
Konnichi Wa
I've been living back in New Zealand's mythically
'bicycle-friendly' city Christchurch having spent
10 years 'car-free' years in Japan, the last 4 in
the center of Kyoto.
I've been trying to convince Local Government here
to look at some of the things that makes cycling so practical,practicable and preferable for such
a wide demographic in Japan and put this blog
together last year:
http://utilitycyclism.blogspot.com/
The situation in New Zealand is pretty much the
same as it is in the U.S.(yes,I've been to Portland) and I've also been putting this web-page together to raise awareness of the European Cycletopias like Copenhagen.
It's early days yet but with the price of oil
having just gone through another all-time record
US$98 per barrel) people are going to start seeing
sense.
On yer bikes !
Ciao.... Alan
Posted by: Alan Preston at November 22, 2007 10:19 AM