I’ve talked with a lot of Japanese friends about how many bicycles there are in Japan. Osaka is littered with bicycles parked (illegally) here and there. Considering that bicycles are used by the vast majority of Japanese residents, it is not surprising to find that Japan is #3 in the number of bicycles in the [...]
Having a bicycle in Japan is an absolute necessity. It’s the only way to travel, unless the distance is so great that you need to take the train. Since my arrival in Japan in April 2008, I’d been using a borrowed mountain bike owned by a friend. But that couldn’t go on forever, so when [...]
Yesterday, I stopped at the McDonald’s restaurant in front of the Momodani train station for breakfast and to do a little bit of homework before heading to my Japanese class. What I’d failed to heed was the no parking sign for bicycles. It’s easy to overlook, as such restrictions are universally ignored. But it turns out that this area was to be “swept” of all unattended bicycles … this morning. (…)
