自転車PEDAL京都On Oike Dori, just east of Nishi Oji Dori, is a mega bike shop.
It is not the number one mega shop - that award goes to the Asahi chain - but this store was pretty impressive from the outside.
Not our cup of tea - we are border-line snobs who prefer an old mom-and-pop neighborhood place, or a shop run by complete bike freak out of his or her first floor - but Jitensha Pedal is in keeping with Japanese bicycle philosophy.
Bikes have long been perceived more as a transportation tool than anything more elevated or self-redeeming.
In urban Japan, there is no often quicker way from point A to point B than the humble bike. For one hundred plus years Japanese have mounted their bikes with little thought to saving the planet or fashion or the evil of other forms of transport (or people).
And that continues to this day, and is one of several reasons why the aggression and conflict of the roads is much less than that in other countries.
© CycleKyoto.com
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Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Bike Store
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