Features

Jitensha (“bicycles”) have long been big in Japan, and now there are about 86 million in a nation of roughly 128 million people. That number is growing as advocacy groups like the Japan Cycling Association and the Forum on Automobile Issues in Japan promote cycling, and newer styles, such as electrical-assist bikes and tricked-out fixies, gain traction.

Those with fancier rides might secure them to railings with skimpy cables or lightweight but low-security aluminum U-locks. I saw a bike messenger near the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world’s largest wholesale seafood mart, enter a building to make a delivery without bothering to lock up at all.

Since the metro is so convenient, many people seem to be use cycling to replace pedestrian trips – for getting to and from stations or running short errands. It’s generally legal to ride on the city’s wide sidewalks, and this is where you usually see cyclists rolling at relatively slow speeds, almost always without helmets.

The hardest thing about biking in Tokyo is navigation. There’s no street grid, many streets are unnamed, locations are identified using a complex system that refers to block numbers, rather than street addresses and blocks are numbered according to the order in which they were built, not their location. A street atlas that shows block numbers, or better yet a GPS system, are helpful, but if you can’t find a business you can always ask directions from an officer at the numerous police boxes. In this low-crime city, that’s one of their main functions.

Hanazawa says fixies have ballooned in popularity here over the last five years, and drivers are getting used to seeing bikes in the streets rather than on the sidewalk. The best thing about riding in Tokyo, he says, is being able to cruise by temples and other traditional architecture, as well as crazy modern business and nightlife districts. “And you can drink outside here,” he added.