Japanese Bikes

As one might expect for a country with not enough space for cars and long walking commutes Japan is a country of bicycles. Though as expected as this is much of their views seem to fly in the face of American sensibilities even though the potential risk is much greater.

The standard Japanese bike is a large and cumbersome town bike that usually contains only one gear (which Abi affectionately dubbed "Go!"). A bike with multiple gears is somewhat more rare, but what's odd is that Japan is not flat, as it sits on top of very active fault lines the vast majority of the country is uneven which just makes it a total pain to maneuver around. They will always contain a basket to put your purse (women ride just as much as men and in short skirts and heels to boot) and a little bell to warn others of your approach except that would be rude so they just try to stealthily sneak by like ninjas often narrowly missing people and sharp objects.

This wouldn't be as bad if they had absolutely no concept of safety. A bike in Japan is a 2 person vehicle. It's not uncommon to see to classmates share a bike with one riding on the back in a really uncomfortable and unstable position as the driver is weaving in and out of unsuspecting pedestrians. Even better though is that parents usually take their offspring with them on the bike, putting them in metal seats that are fastened to the back or handlebars (sometime both if you have 2). If the bike falls over the child is pretty much screwed, but that doesn't always stop parents from speeding out of a blind corner and nearly missing you with their infant meat-shield.

They also don't wear helmets, ever. There's no way a respectable Japanese would ruin their nicely gelled hair, or perhaps Japanese research has shown that common hairstyles incorporate enough product to make it rigid enough to withstand a tumble onto concrete, which would hardly be surprising. Regardless of how much bodily harm you may potentially succumb to it's very important not to get wet though, because then you'd look quite foolish in the eyes of others. Japanese don't wear raincoats. You can buy them in many varieties but they don't use them instead opting to take umbrellas (parasols too if you feel your skin isn't transparent enough). You then wind up with these same people compounding everything noted above by riding on wet streets with one hand holding an umbrella. Now if you factor in the fact that umbrellas tend to pull in windy Tokyo you realize that Japanese have balls of steel. I've often wondered what the statistics are for umbrella impalement look like here, it's gotta be a lot.

Despite this I've yet to see someone take a spill. It's been very close, many times though. Asian may suck at driving but when it comes to bicycles they are unmatched.