A bit on bikes in Japan

By Jessica Tamblyn, Camosun exchange student at Josai International University

So having a bike here is COMPLETELY different than in Canada. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Helmets are only required for students in elementary and middle school, nobody else ever wears them...which is awesome because I hate wearing them.
2. Bikes have the right of way pretty much always, and we ride on the sidewalk. (Sometimes people will ride on the side of the road, since the sidewalk is so busy)
3. 
   Driving and biking is on the left hand side of the road. (which is opposite from Canada and I still struggle with what side I need to be on from time to time.)
4. People on bikes are not legally allowed to use their cellphones while riding, but cars can.
5. You cannot drink (alcohol) and bike.
6. It is required to have a bike light at night (I guess that's the same)
7. When you purchase a bicycle in Japan, you must pay an extra 5 dollars for insurance. Doing this requires giving them all your information, so that if you get hit while on a bike, you would be insured. Or if your bike gets stolen, you could go to the police and they would report it. (So if a policeman were to pull you over, they check your bike licence number and your name, if it doesn’t match then you most likely stole the bike.)
8. It is illegal to have someone ride on the back “seat” of your bike, the bars at the back are meant for carrying boxes.
9. Bikes here have keys to lock he bike, rather than a bike lock. The lock tightens around the wheel. Maybe I’ll take a picture or video of it later. 

We went to Cainz and looked for the cheapest possible bike, which was ¥8,900 or about $90. This was the basic grey one with the black basket that every foreigner that we saw with a bike so far had. (Naturally, since its the cheapest option) We went to the shop worker and asked him for the cheap bike. He then said a bunch of words in Japanese and pointed at two different bikes. I was kind of confused and pointed to the cheap grey one outside, so we went out there and he proceeded to explain that the bike doesn’t have gears, the light did not have a motion/sunlight sensor, etc. He then took us inside and showed us the cream/white bikes. The original sign on it said ¥19,800 but he said it was only ¥9,800 (he said this by repeating the price and also covering up the 1 with his finger). Okay, so these bikes were much better, and looked awesome, for only about $10 more! Renato got the white one and I got the cream one, we filled out our paperwork and headed home.