So as I mentioned in my Instagram post,  bicycle is the best method of getting around in Japan. The streets are narrow but nothing is further than a short bike ride away. Japan is convenient, and not just because they have a convenience store around every corner, but because anything you could ever need is accessible and close by. A car can be hard to navigate through the tiny streets, so everybody here bikes, including kids and the elderly. Not only is it great for the environment, but it’s good for your health too. It allows you to get in some of your required daily exercise without even thinking about it. Many people ride their bikes to work, so it adds a little movement to their static desk jobs. Did you know, Japan is one of the oldest nations in the world? And by that I mean it has one of the largest, if not The largest, elderly population in the world and one of the highest rates of reaching over 100 years old. In my opinion, riding bikes throughout their lives helped contribute to their ability to reach such high levels of old age.

One interesting thing about bicycles in Japan is that they are treated like any other vehicle. You must follow the rules of the road, and there are hefty fines if you break the law. Also, did you know it’s illegal to bike with an umbrella opened? I see people doing it all the time! But nope, not legal. You cannot bike in designated pedestrian areas (aka the sidewalk), unless you are a small child or an elderly person. I’m so used to driving on the right side of the road that when I went biking for the first time a couple days ago, instinctively I started biking on the right, and someone literally honked at me from their car!

Another thing that I don’t know why North America hasn’t adopted yet is the bike locking mechanism on Japanese bikes. There’s a key lock attached directly to the bike that doesn’t allow the tires to turn unless the key remains inserted. Also, it’s a steel rod which is waaay harder to cut than a regular bike lock. Now you might be thinking okay well someone could just pick up the bike and take it. Well at a lot of stores they have bike racks that clamp onto the front tires so you can’t just steal the bike without taking off the font tire, and even if you took the back part the back wheel still wouldn’t turn because of the built in lock. Like why can’t we have those? It’s so smart!

To be honest, I didn’t really think I would have this much to say about bikes, but I have one more awesome thing to add about Japanese bikes … Their Kickstands!! They go under the bike and hold the back tire completely off the ground to stabilize the bike upright instead of leaning it on a side kickstand! It is so much better and keeps your bike from falling over. And you can lock the kickstand too, so not only does the back tire not spin when locked, but the tire itself isn’t even touching the ground! Would make a bike either difficult or pointless to steal, right? Not sure why this “technology” hasn’t made it’s way to Canada and the United States yet, but we really need to get on it.

Anyways that’s my not so short spiel about bicycles in Japan! If anyone is really curious, leave a comment and I will upload pictures of all the different mechanisms I talked about or list all the rules about biking in Japan.

Hope you learned something!