cycling in tokyo

[wc1934]

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/magical-mystery-behind-tokyos-successful-cycling-culture.html

[bobswire]

Cool but I take exception to the underlined of this statement.
"It’s not just a sport for rich people. It’s not a sport where you have to buy a helmet and Lycra and you don’t need a $2000 bicycle. Everyone cycles in regular clothing. They’re not cycling to get fit, they’re not cycling to save the environment, they’re just cycling because it makes sense."
I started cycling because it was fun, then for commuting,then I realized I was getting fit and it motivated me to give up smoking while saving money by buying less gas that translated to less pollution. All those become prime motivations to continue cycling. Going on 30 years straight for me at this point
of my life.

[verticaldoug]

It is really simple. It was the easiest way to get from your house to the train station to commute to work or school. I commuted by bike from my home stay to the train station when I was an exchange student in the 80's.

That's why you still see so many Mother Chariots (mamachari - go ahead google it) in Japan.

[oldpotatoe]

It is really simple. It was the easiest way to get from your house to the train station to commute to work or school. I commuted by bike from my home stay to the train station when I was an exchange student in the 80's.

That's why you still see so many Mother Chariots (mamachari - go ahead google it) in Japan.

A lot of people had 2 bikes, one at each train station.

[Jad]

Thanks for sharing. When I lived in Seattle (Fremont), I definitely found my bike the best way to get around, and once I got a system down for groceries and errands, it was ultimately much better for me than owning a car. In a place like Tokyo, where it looks more densely populated, I can only imagine that bikes would be the right tool even more generally.

[PaulE]

I went to Japan for 5 days last December, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. There are massive bike parking facilities at the train stations and cyclists everywhere - mostly everyday people in street clothes. In some places, pedestrians and cyclists share the sidewalks. Everything is clean and 99.999999% of the people are extremely courteous. I only saw one Japanese male driver in a BMW X5 give my cab driver the finger because my cab driver was driving slowly.

[fmbp]

How appropriate that this is posted today - my wife and I leave for Tokyo tomorrow! Can't wait.

[homagesilkhope]

That's why you still see so many Mother Chariots (mamachari - go ahead google it) in Japan.

Grandma's, too. Folks used to call mine a babacharinko.

[verticaldoug]

Grandma's, too. Folks used to call mine a babacharinko.

you should change handle to babachan

[purpurite]

Just got back from 10 days in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hamamatsu, and found cycling in Japan very different from here. I only saw a few avid enthusiasts (a couple of Colnagos, an All City and a titanium Lynskey), and the majority were using bikes as transport.

It's not just bicycles that are viewed differently there, most everything is different. It's a very different culture than the US, with importance put on very different things. I could write pages on it (I did), so I won't go into too much detail here. I don't see bikes ever being as widely accepted here in the US on major road systems as they are in Japan, just because of the way we view transportation so differently, and the distances we travel.

I am going to put the Kyoto bike lane symbol on my right arm somewhere, though. :)

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12724868_1671134353136835_230249862_n.jpg